Being More

Some Days

2012-02-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

Some Days You Reach for Your Goals

And you make it.

Other days you miss

Just keep hanging On.

Fighting Food Shapism

2012-02-17T08:19:00.000-08:00

I'd like to revolutionize your world. Or at least, your cooking.

Suffice to say that when I'm done talking to my washing machine for the day, the next place I spend the most time in is my kitchen. When I am in my kitchen, I do my best to find a way to feed my family great (reasonably) healthy food, that doesn't take all day to make. I've got other important things to do, like post pictures to twitter and think of funny things to say on facebook.

Priorities people.

Lets start off by saying, the idea that follows (which wasn't my idea, but one I adopted after hearing about it a few years ago) may challenge the way you think about meat, and meat shapes. But it's time we started confronting food shapism and give alternate shapes a chance to flourish in our kitchens.

So, I know how many of you wake up in the morning and say, "I'd love to make meatballs for dinner, but they just take sooo much time."

You're correct in saying making meatballs takes a lot of time, and really it's quite gross, all that meat handling. But making meatsquares, or perchance you'd like to call them meat pillows if you like to talk fancy, is a fantastic time-saving alternative.

Here's how you make it happen:

Take your favourite meatball recipe,(mine involves chucking all the ingredients in my mixer equipped with my dough hook,) mix the dickens out of it, and slap it all in a bar pan/cookie sheet with sides. It works best if you fill the bar pan, side to side - though not to the rim! I have found my bar pans hold about 3 lbs of ground beef comfortably. Coincidentally, my stomach can almost hold half a pound of cooked meat squares comfortably.

Once your meat is laying there like a dead cow, you score it into little squares, using a pizza wheel, nylon knife or kitchen utensil of choice - I'm totally open to whatever kitchen equipment you want to use on this, remember, we're aren't shapist around here.

The halfway point

Pop it in your preheated oven and set your timer for half the baking time suggested. When your time goes, pull out your meatsquares and re-score. Finish baking till done, and not a minute less. Remove from oven, score one last time with feeling, and you're done! I like to move mine to a cooling rack and/or my mouth at this point, but again - you do whatever works for you.

I call it: Tasty little squares of goodness on a greasy pan. Not coming to an art show near you

Total time for this lovely exercise in embracing a variety of shapes in my kitchen: 30 minutes from the first flip of the switch on my mixer till they were done on a cooling rack. And now I have the main part of dinner for tonight done, plus enough to freeze for another day.

Gross? Maybe, but the whole fam-damily loves the taste of meatballs, and this ensures they get to enjoy one of their favourites far more often.

Oh, and one more thing. If you see one of these cow creamers. Please buy it. It just makes your day better. Guaranteed.

Moo.

When Your Washing Machine Teaches You a Lesson

2012-02-16T17:27:00.000-08:00

F:51

It just looks bad, doesn't it? I mean, If my doctor told me I had disease F:51, I'd probably call my Mom and cry.

And then eat some ice cream.

and a brownie

or seven.

F:51

When it shows up on the display of the washing machine, it means it's not working. It means the four loads of laundry that have accumulated over the last two days are gonna have to accumulate a little longer until someone can fix it. It means you can turn it on and turn it off, and restart your load, but in the end, nothing is going to work. That's what it means.

It's an F:51, after all.

It means you're gonna have to take your slightly damp and still unclean laundry out of the tub and ponder your laundry for longer than seems appropriate. You will have to think about things like: do you put slightly damp and unclean laundry in the dryer? Because who knows when it's going to have a chance to be actually cleaned again...leaving it to rot is the answer. It kind of feels like it is because it's ...dirty, you don't dry dirty clothes, you dry clean ones...right? I'm no expert on stain removal, but I'm pretty sure adding heat doesn't make things easier. Except in this case, it's an obscenely large pile of laundry for your obscenely large washing machine. It's too much for hanging to dry and it also happens that it accounts for a high percentage of your own clothing, so you'll guess you can't leave it to rot. Or can you?

I really should stop writing in third person. Cause I'm guessing you didn't have a problem yesterday with your washing machine - I did.

And I feel like I've been having a lot of F:51 moments lately.

So here's the lesson I learned from something as lame as a washing machine...well not just my washing machine. More like my washing machine and 32 other little events that have happened over the past few weeks.

It's somewhat telling when I start psycho-analyzing my washing machine. In my defense, we do spend a lot of time together, and we're pretty close. We fight the Laundry Monster together on a weekly, if not daily basis. But it's downright lugubrious when you see yourself in your own washing machine. .

First of all, the good news: it turns out F:51 isn't a death knell.

I know you're glad to hear I am not writing this post, posthumously.

After a day of being emptied of it's contents, turned off, an totally ignored, the washing machine is working again. It turns out F:51 is a secret washing machine code that means: I love washing your clothes almost all the time. I'm even really good at it (most of the time). In fact, I know I am fulfilling my created purpose when I clean your clothes, it even brings me joy to do so. But right now, I need a break. I need to do nothing for a little while. I need to be emptied of work-to-do. I need...a rest.

At least, I think that's what it means..

I realized a few weeks ago that I have bought into and wrapped my life around some very small but significant kernels of untruth, the first one being: If I am leading the life God wants me to, I won't need rest.

I have been really good at following my own advice in not leading a stressful-busy life. I haven't, however, been very good in my life at practicing restfulness. I think I have assumed that as long as I wasn't leading a busy life, I didn't need rest. I have lived like choosing joy and working hard completes the picture. I have never felt the need to escape my life, because I love my life. But this past year, underneath all the joy (which is real, I might add) there is bone tired weariness. Weariness from living a well-loved life without resting.

I'm good at finding joy, I can find humour in just about everything and that certainly keeps me sane, or at least happily insane. I'm good at encouragement, I'm good at working hard, but I really have a lot to learn about resting.

When I write it out it seems so obvious. Of course taking a break from the regular work and responsibilities of your life are a good thing. Like a good friend counselled me, as I started to unravel a few weeks ago: Taking breaks are not a sign that you hate your life, it's part of living a balanced life.

But in my heart I believed that if I just un-busyed myself enough, that would be the same as resting. If I was only doing the things that I really felt God wanted me to, I could do them in perpetuity.

When other people go on vacations, or take breaks, I don't assume there is something wrong with them: that they are desperate to save their marriage or to have something change in their life. I'm honestly so thrilled to hear about it, because I think vacations are great...for them. I feel the need to apologize whenever I am doing anything that might be construed as not working. Like I can't just enjoy something because God is amazing and loves to make life neon awesome.

Which leads me to another lie.

That the goodness that I believe God wants to give to someone else, is not the same goodness that He wants to give me.

Here's the truth: God doesn't give me good things with one hand and wait to smack me with the other.

I need to stop living like He does.

For right now it means I am going to do the hard work of learning how to actually rest.

It's going to start with taking a vacation. How neon awesome is that? And then when I get back, it's going to mean finding ways to actually observe restfulness on a more regular basis. Any advice you have on the subject is most appreciated! And if you see me, and you happen to ask me about it, and I start apologizing, or explaining all the reasons I'm not taking the vacation for (not to save my marriage, not to leave a life I hate etc.) please stop me, and just remind me that God can handle it if I take a few days off.

He's got the whole world in his hand, my life included.

So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labours, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest... Hebrews 4:9- 11

Amen.

"Plan B" Crafting

2012-02-09T22:13:00.000-08:00

I saw this lovely idea the other day for making little valentines mailboxes and thought - Hey, I'd like to make those! I thought they'd be fun for valentines day and then maybe, if I got my act together I could also use them for little "we love you" gifties for the kids while we were on our holiday in the near future.

So today, which it turns out is also known as too late, I went into town to search for the elusive little metal mailboxes.

I got skunked. And, let's be honest, I was a little bummed. I had visions of ~~sugarplums~~ excited kids looking forward to the yearly Valentines tradition of checking their mailboxes for surprises from Mom and Dad. Maybe, if I left them out they would start writing little notes of encouragement to one another, maybe they would never have occasion to be snippy or find fault with one another, maybe these mailboxes were the key to family, nay, world peace, and I had missed out on finding them.

I might overestimate the power of crafts.

I still liked the idea of smallish and stylish container that could hold small gifts and notes. I liked the idea of something durable that I could decorate once, and then not have to wrap said small gifts and notes to put inside.

You call it lazy, I call it...lazy.

Just when I was about to give up, I saw these little unfinished wooden boxes, and decided that for $1.25 a piece, it was worth giving it a try. I brought them home, spray painted them, and marked them with a "B". Okay, actually a B, M, N, K & T, (my kids initials - man that's a bunch!) and then did a little stamping and here is how they turned out:

I'm in love, and feeling fairly like a genius.

I ended up getting a brain wave half way through making them and thought - what if I could make them more of a special occasion box, as opposed to just a Valentines box? Bingo!

This is me, wishing I was a good photographer.

I was really having a good day, or at least, a good crafting day, and I also thought to make a little pocket to fasten to each lid to hold the other tags.

Yay! Can't wait to fill these with little somethings!

In case you want to attempt this totally doable craft, here are the supplies I used. I happened to have everything but the boxes in my possession already, so the grand total for this inspiring moment was $7 and about 3 hours total effort - drying time not included!

Supplies:
Spray paint (Home Depot), Decor Elements White Vinyl, 1 3/8" circle punch, "Got Treats" stamp set, Clips Assortment, Pumpie Pie, Pear Pizzazz Soft Suede, Tempting Turqouise, Cranberry Crisp Markers and Classis Ink, Big Shot Die Cutter, Alphabet dies, cardstock (Stampin' Up!), Velcro (Staples?), Glue Gun (Michaels), Silver Tray (IKEA),
Piece of card stock 1 3/4" by 5 1/2" - scored at 1/2" and 2 1/2" to make pocket for inside lid. (Some needed to be cut narrower to fit the space in between the lid.)
*If you don't own a Big Shot die cutter, or any stamp sets etc, I would venture you could find stickers that you could substitute with.

Directions:

Cut paper or post-it-note to cover window on the outside and inside of the box. Alternately, you can just do the outside and spend five minutes scrubbing the inside of the window after you've done spray painting. Moving along...
Spray the boxes and lids using short small strokes. It is better to do multiple layers of paint than try and get it done in one shot. I finally believe this after many streaky/blobby spray paint projects - I'm a slow learner, but take my advice, you won't be sorry.
When boxes are dry, remove paper
Cut out monogram letters using decor elements vinyl sheets in the Big Shot - remember to place it with the back facing you, so your letter won't be backwards when you want to stick it on the glass.
Stick monograms onto glass window
Use glue gun to stick small clip in bottom corner
Make fun little tags using 1 3/8" punch
Fold piece of card stock to make a pocket, adhere velcro to the side without the flap. As shown in the picture below - cause I don't know how to explain it well otherwise. Place opposite piece of velcro on this piece, and THEN stick it to the lid - no need to worry about lining it up. This piece will hold all the extra tags that aren't being used. Or, maybe you're not like me, and you can put those tags somewhere else and not lose them or forget about them. I'm not judgy, you do what works for you. The tension of the flap against the lid should be enough to keep everything in! (I hope - or I will have to come with a Plan C!

copyright 2012 - Karina Loewen - www.karinaloewen.blogspot.com. Feel free to share, but please link back to this specific blog post when you do. And...what else am I supposed to say? I think something about not claiming this idea as your own when entering contests etc. Do what's right!

Reality Check
This is what my school/craft room looked like half way through the project...it got worse before it got better.

What you don't hear in that picture are my kids picking and crabbing at each other, and you don't see supper that is not being made when it should be. Like I said, it was a good crafting moment. There were some other moments that weren't so awesome. But it ended well, kids, crafts and all.

Happy Crafting, and may all your Plan B's be beautiful in the end!

Things that Start with T

2012-02-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

T is for Twitter
It's been about a week now since I entered the fray and joined Twitter. So far, I like it. I feel a different freedom to let my weirdness out a little more there - whether that's good or not remains to be seen. :)

I will admit my start in the twitterverse was a little rough.

For starters - I still have questions about it: do people even refer to it as the Twitterverse? Or is that a Mom-ism, like calling Lego, "legoes"?

I know I'm technically young enough to be hip (I'm 35), but somehow having five kids has a way of calling all those hipster qualities into question. Case in point - I don't own any TOMS. (But I think I'd like to, maybe these ones, cause if I can't be a vegan, at least my shoes should be. I just don't want to look like I'm trying to hard, ya know)

If I can't be hip, maybe my kids can pull it off. They make TOMS for kids, ya know.

Secondly, the first two people to follow me initially were porn stars, or people who wished they were porn stars. I really didn't bother try to check out who they were in an official sense...honest, but it was fairly obvious from their avatars that they were at least aspiring to be that.

It never occurred to me that maybe they thought I was a porn star too. Huh.

Anyway, I'm hanging out there a little now, and facebook a little less...but only a little. Balance in everything, right? If you want to follow me and join the conversation there you can find me @KarinaLoewen. Good times!

T is for Tripp and Tyler
If you are feeling sad, please watch this. Guaranteed to make your day better.

How much better?

I'm glad you asked. Studies have shown that watching videos like this will improve your day by at least 18%.

You're welcome.

T is for Travel
This is big. Josh and I are going away. Alone. For a whole week, for the explicit purpose of gaining weight and being lazy. I am really really looking forward to it. We have never done anything like this before, and everyone tells me it's going to be great. They also tell me I probably should have gone a few years ago. I believe them on both counts. It's not long now, and I can't wait to see how it all works out!

T is for Tyson
Tyson. Oh Tyson. He is so much fun and he is growing up so much this year. Kindergarten looks good on him! And like so many kindergartners have done before him, he lost his first tooth on Monday. It took a couple of tried, but out it came, and there he is, ,wearing his toothless grin with pride.

(insert sad face because I deleted all the pics on my phone accidentally...I hate my phone - maybe I'll take a new one tomorrow)

Be still my heart.

Please slow down.

Love, your Mom

T is for Ta-Ta for Now!
Enjoy your week Peeps!

Dr. Karina, Medicine Woman

2012-02-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

I don't remember watching a lot of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, although I do remember that it's what I was watching the day the Princess Diana was killed in her fateful car accident. Right as the good Dr.was about to deliver her own baby against all odds, in the middle of nowhere, the show was interrupted with the tragic news of her death.

What does this have to do with Friday? Almost nothing. Although it is interesting how clear that memory still is years later.

I did think of the good doctor more than once on Friday night as a wicked little flu bug making it's way through the Lower Mainland made itself welcome here. I'm certain there's more than one episode (or perhaps all of them??) with the doctor running about with her beauty intact but her sanity and well-being hanging by a thread, but dad-gum she keeps going cause she knows she's making a difference and people need her.

Clearly there is something about a pioneer setting that speaks to the inner recesses of my soul, when I need to call myself to action. Either that, or I am so out of date in terms of TV shows, all I have going for me are the memories of what I used to watch before I had kids. Sad to say, it's probably that.

Without going into the details of the absolute insanity and violent expectoration of bodily fluids that began at 10pm and didn't let up with more than a 10 minute break until 5 am, there are a few observations I made in the midst of everything going on here earlier this weekend.

Laugh so you don't cry, is my go-to philosophy when it comes to most of the trivial annoyances that plague the day to day life of being a Mom. Not to say that I don't ever complain,I'm also capable of being a fantastic complainer. See here or here, for further proof. Whenever possible though, I do my best to push towards creating goodness and finding joy.

With that in mind, I give you:

Life Lessons from the Plague of 2012
(note: when embracing the aforementioned philosophy, hyperbole helps)

Watching half asleep kids try and explain to you they've just emptied their stomach contents on their bedroom floor and are about to do the same on your lap if you don't get them to a bathroom, are equal parts annoying and hilarious. Kind of like trying to get a drunk to walk a straight line, I imagine.

Three-year-olds don't know how to be sick. They are either sleeping from sickness-induced exhaustion or bouncing and asking for spaghetti and hot chocolate, even if they've just completely emptied their stomach contents 14 seconds before. There clearly is no connection between past history and future results to a young child.

Area rugs should be rolled up and put away at the first sign of nausea. You'll thank yourself later, possibly multiple times.

There is something powerful about helping someone else, or in my case, five someone elses. Especially when you feel like you can't do it.

Putting your hair up in a bun after not sleeping for an entire night is a good way to get your hair out of your face, but will not make you look at all like Jane Seymour. Not even a little bit.

Placing a plastic tablecloth over the couch, but under another blanket is a brilliant way to keep a sick three year old comfy without worry about unexpected ejections of bodily fluids from wreaking havoc on your furniture. I wish I had thought of that 10 years and five flu bugs earlier.

Doing laundry in the middle of the night, when it's done to eradicate the house of every speck of barf and germs flayed upon it feels good. Crazy good.

Becoming borderline obsessive-compulsive about wiping doorknobs, faucets and light switches feels perfectly acceptable when my kids are sick. So I guess that means if I'm not being Dr. Quinn, I am being Gus Portokalos...except instead of Windex I am using Norwex cloths.

While we're on the subject: Dear Norwex, can you please change your name so it doesn't sound like a dread disease? That would be awesome.

When I am exhausted, over-tired, and spent, nothing makes me feel better than hearing Josh tell me I am rocking my job as Mom. I am so glad he knows me well enough to not say "Oh you poor thing". To me, pity is crippling, but encouragement and a well-timed -"you can do it!" is all the rally cry I need. It gives hope and breathes new life into my tired bones! He's a good man.

Today, we are more well rested and everyone is hopeful that by tonight the barf buckets will be sterilized and put away for a long, long time. But it's good to know, that even in the midst of chaos, there is joy and perhaps even a thing or two to be thankful for.

Now where did I put my Norwex cloth?

Cause Why Not

2012-02-03T17:15:00.000-08:00

I found this in the draft section of my facebook page from over a year ago, I don't know who sent it to me, and I don't like tagging 25 people - but it made me laugh, because I'm a geek, and I sort of apologize for being cheeky. But only sort of.

1. What time did you get up this morning?

6 am

2. How do you like your steak?

medium

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?

It's been so long I can't remember - the last of the Bourne series maybe? It was good as I recall!

4. What is your favorite TV show?

Historically my favourite show answer would be the original Carol Burnett show, but lately, and it's still 10 years old...Firefly...bring back Serenity!

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

kind of like where we are - BC wins for now!

6. What did you have for breakfast?

haven't had it yet - drinking a Latte right now though - does that count?

7. What is your favorite Cuisine?

Are you cooking for me? Then that's my favorite.

Food is my favorite type of cuisine.

8. What foods do you dislike?

raw tomatoes and onions

9. Favorite place to eat?

Anywhere that is just Josh and I

10. Favorite dressing?

California Salad Dressing - Mom's recipe!

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?

Moby Dick, a big white whale of a mini van.

12. What are your favorite clothes?

Anything that makes me look 10 pounds lighter

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?

Matt & Fify - wherever they are. And if they don't want to see us :) London.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?

Neither - it's FULL

15. Where would you want to retire?

Do Mom's ever retire???

16. Favorite time of day?

Morning

17. Where were you born

Chilliwack, BC

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?

I'd rather not - but hockey is the only one I sort of understand, so I guess it winsl

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?

Matt :-)

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?

I don't know

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?

everyone

22. Bird watcher?

Seriously? I can think of so many better things to do and I have no patience

3. Are you a morning person or a night person?

Morning

24.Do you have pets?

No, I have five kids, that's enough pets thanks

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?

I love CLCC (our church).

26. What did you want to be when you were little?

A singer

27. What is your best childhood memory?

I had a great childhood, but sadly, I have no specific memories. Ask my brother, he has enough for both of us.

28. Are you a cat person or a dog person?

People person, sorry cats and dogs.

29. Are you married?

Yes

30. Always wear your seat belt?

yes

31. Ever been in a car accident?

Yes

2. Any pet peeves?

Probably best not to get started here, or I will start ranting, and I am sure that is someone else's pet peeve...

33. Favorite pizza toppings?

Chicken,carmelized onions, pesto

34. Favorite flower?

Are you bringing? Then that is my favorite.

35. Favorite ice cream?

Moose Tracks

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?

Ew. My love affair with fast food died a few years ago.

37. How many times did you fail your drivers test?

Once - totally froze at the first intersection and forget how to drive...I may not like tests :)

38.From whom did you get your last email?

Josh! We're like, so in love we just can't stop emailing and texting. It's crazy.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?

I have no idea - I don't shop unless I have to. But if you're babysitting, then I might give it a whirl just about anywhere.

41. Like your job?

Love it.

42. Broccoli?

Yes, but only because I should.

43.Your favorite things to do on vacation?

Relaxing and Free Fun... (if Josh is with me, that is)

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?

Josh

45. What are you listening to right now?

The sound of the fan upstairs. my typing

46. What is your favorite color?

Green.

47. How many tatoos do you have?

Wouldn't you like to know....ok, None

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?

i don't know yet - trying to think who won't hate me for tagging them! I know, i won't tag anyone, and I'll just post it to my blog.

49. What time did you finish this quiz?

6:58 am

Tack-a-leakers and Other Things

2012-02-02T21:14:00.000-08:00

Friday in the Park
Before the Snowmageddon of 2012 came upon us, my youngest two and I went to a park AND I brought my camera. I haven't decided which is the bigger miracle: bringing my camera, or taking them to the park of my own free will, without having a "reason".

Playing has been my greatest downfall as a parent, I'm probably gonna spend the rest of my parenting career trying to improve on that. I never played well as a kid, I did things, or probably more correctly, I conquered things. Anyway, in a fit of we have to make good memories that involve me doing something else besides laundry and grocery shopping, we hit the park.

Tyson and Keaton get along best when they play outdoors, and funny enough, when I am playing with them.
It's a little Dickensian when they are together. You know: the best of times and the worst of times. Many a morning I have had a season of hope and a season of despair regarding their relationship in the space of five minutes. But this outing was the best of times - double rainbow, if you will.

Here they are, having fun, being the best-of-times brothers. So I drink them in, and focus on this moment.

Things I'd like to remember about now:
Keaton still calls binoculars: tackaleakers, and I'm pretty sure he's gonna outgrow it soon. Thinking of that reminds me of so many other funny things, that I'm sure only I think are funny, that my kids used to do. I wish I had more of them written down, cause for the most part all I have left now are good feelings.

Bonus memory: Morgan used to call Maria from Sound of Musc, Joaf (rhymes with loaf). Yeah. We'll have to ask Jesus about that one.

Don't Over-Carpe
That night Josh left on a business trip, and so I rallied. I thought I would bust out every ounce of we can make the most of it AND I was determined to take pictures of the many fabulous moments we had, so that I would look back on these weekends when my pioneer spirit comes into full play with fondness.

The next morning, we had the exciting breakfast of ~~I don't care about the dentist or the sugar crash an hour later~~ junk cereal, which in case you didn't know, increases your fun factor as a parent by 37% on any given weekend, but by a full 48% if you are flying solo. I highly recommend it.

I started taking pictures of the great rejoicing that took place when I surprised them with this amazing treat. I began to observe the fun. I really tried, with my limited skills and old camera to capture the beauty of the moment. I mean, I was Carpe Dieming and Carpe Kairosing all at the same time. I think Morgan was sleeping.

Then I was reminded that being a multi-tasker and Laura Ingalls and the photog for the weekends events might not be a good idea.

Exhibit A:

Otherwise entitled - there will be no more pictures of the weekends festivities. Except for one:

Ok, two...

Morgan did the whole thing on her own, start to finish. It was delicious and beautiful, and a perfect way to celebrate Josh's arrival back home on Sunday.

I may or may not have invented calorie-free homemade ice cream that went with the cake. Right now I'm leaning towards may on the ice cream and a big fat may not on the calorie-free part. But a girl can dream.

All in all, the weekend was great.

Even if I can't be trusted to hold a camera and feed and care for my kids at the same time.

Dear Stores...

2012-02-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

About all those awesome exclusive membership extra value appreciation bonus points super duper favourite customer cards and tags you make me carry...I hate them. They make my wallet and mind fill to overflowing and I feel so despondent when heaven forbid, I forget one because it has magically disappeared from my wallet just as I entered your premises.

Please just lower your prices, and I'll deal with not feeling like I got an amazing discount.

I'm glad we had this talk.

Sincerely,

Karina

Just Cause You Say It Ain't...

2012-01-31T09:45:00.000-08:00

Ok.

here it goes.

A mini-rant.

Must be something I feel like doing at the beginning of the year. Not that I don't like to rant at other times. I know the Pancake Rant of 2011 wasn't my best work, but I am working on it. I understand that my rants are not nearly as well noted or predictable as my Dad's famous band-aid rant of 1993, or the the way to fix feeling sorry for yourself rant of 94, or even the Star Trek rant of 92...those were life changing, and I hope one day to be able to rant as well and as memorably as my Dad. I guess what I am saying is it appears that I have a need to rant in an official, write it out for the 24 people that read this blog to see once a year kind of way, anyway.

Some people have New Year's Resolutions, which I have observed have limited success. May I suggest you try a New year's Rant. I almost always feel better.

Sometimes it hurts to pull the plank out of my own eye, but I'm willing to take one for the team to say what needs to be said:

Saying "I'm not complaining" followed be complaining, is still complaining.

There.

I said it.

Kvetching is fine, I have nothing against it when the time is right, but let's just stop pretending that it's somehow not what it is.

It makes me want to chew my own foot off, and you can imagine how much less productive I would become if I mangled my own leg. Please stop.

And yes, I am complaining about complainers, but I'm not pretending to not complain, so I feel justified.

It's a lot like saying something really ignorant and rude, and adding a just sayin! or my favourite upgrade the: just saying :)- like the smiley face is going to make telling a pregnant woman she looks like a beached whale feel better.

What I'm just saying is just sayin' is not a Get-out-of-jerk-free card.

Umm...just saying??

Make the world better.

Choose joy

Reflect gratitude

Choose Encouragement

Be known for your thankfulness

Your life, and quite honestly, society will thank you back.

There.

I feel much better. Happy 2012!

Nathan, the Composer

2012-01-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

We've been studying music history as of late, although I don't know if that has anything to do with what's been going on this afternoon. Truth be told - I'm a little taken aback.

Nathan, somewhat out of the blue, started writing songs today. He calls them songs anyway, although I haven't heard the tunes, just seen the words...he tells me there are tunes that go with the songs. I can't wait to here them.

I think they're beautiful, and with his permission, I'm typing them out here. This is a good thing for me to do, as I have a bit of a tendency to, um, throw things out without looking at them too much .

I haven't done any editing on the form, only correcting spelling. He just handed them to me and said..."I wrote these songs, Mom...do you like them?"

"Yes son, I love them."

And for the record, Loni...I cried.

In the World of Laughter

Come with me, come with me to the world of laughter

There are clowns and balloons and things that make you laugh so hard

And you can't stop even if you try

So hard but you can't stop laughing

Clowns and balloons and jokes

But most of all have fun

In the World of Laughter

In the world of laughter that is not the end yet

In the world of laughter there is happy people

And smiles on every face

And they have lots and lots of fun.

Clowns and balloons and jokes

But most of all have fun

In the world of laughter.

In the world of laughter

And I mean it.

The End

Come With Me

Come with me, Come with me

I will show you the way of Jesus and the way to heaven.

When I go to church I learn something new about God's mightiness.

He can do amazing things that I can't do.

God is Good and Love.

He is my hero.

God is everything I love

And God is the

Lord

and the

King of the world

of the world.

You Died for Me

You died for me

You died for my family

You died for everyone and took away my sin

You died on the cross

You did that just for me

Your love shines like the stars in the sky

Your love was like noone else

You died for me

You are my light

my life

you saved me

you are my Father and my friend

You died on the cross for me

God you are amazing

and you are my hero.

You are love and life.

And right now, I hear him singing in the living room, writing more songs. I am overwhelmed.

Do I need to say this?... all works above were composed by and are the intellectual property of Nathan Loewen, on January 24, 2012

Today I Realized That

2012-01-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

...going grocery shopping after being snowed in feels great. Almost as good as getting home with a van load of groceries before the storm hits.

...going grocery shopping with kids is not quite as much fun as going shopping alone.

...that I like to say yes to buying comfy and cozy clothes for my kids, except for the shopping part, that always puts me in a no mood.

...it's starting to sound like I have issues with shopping, and I do. I'm ok with that. If I never had to set foot in a store again, that would be ok with me.

....that I love getting glimpses of who my kids are becoming.

...I wish I took more pictures.

...part of the dearth of picture taking is due to the fact that in order to take a picture, I need to pull away from being in the moment to observing the moment.

...I'm not very good at removing myself from the action for any reason.

...I'm going to miss it when Keaton stops saying "Ax-alater" and "Oma-cycle" for Escalator and Motorcycle.

...Snow beats rain. Every. Single. Time.

...I really liked having all the activities that were supposed to happen this week get cancelled. Is that weird?

....I was really glad the kids once-a-week school/resource centre wasn't cancelled today. Is that weird?

...I like food. Alot.

...Lego is a great invention, but a lousy thing to step on.

... my husband rocks. I would marry him a hundred times over given the chance.

....my daughter is growing up, and she looks fabulous in glasses.

... having four boys is great.

.... I'd like some cookie dough, right about now.

... God still wants me to grow. I like this, and I hate this.

... I feel loved when my husband chops up lettuce to be vacuum packed. Ok, that is weird.

...I like buying good shoes.

...I loved hearing Nathan read to Keaton tonight.

....even if he only did it so I would let him watch Wipeout.

... my kitchen needs to be cleaned, and laundry needs to be folded, but writing (if this counts) won.

What did you realize today?

FlashBack Friday: December 2011, Brought to you by the Letter C

2012-01-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

Oh December...you were such a great month. How did I not blog about you?

I think there is a part of me that is convinced that I will remember things for forever. I think this despite the fact that I've been firmly entrenched in the "which kid was it that did cute thing A or crazy thing B?" for years now.

While there is a certain beauty and peace about living in denial, there are some things that I want to remember to do for next year - so here they are.

Cousins, Cousins, Cousins Starts with C
When it comes to Christmas, we've got family gatherings in spades. It's the beauty of living so close to so much of our family. However - what do you do when most of "your generation" of family can't be together because of scheduling conflicts for Christmas events...schedule something different of course!

We had almost all of the cousins on the Bateman side of the fam make it out to an early Christmas party at our place, and it was so much fun!

We got to eat together (I can't have fun unless there is food involved, it's something I'm working on, so don't judge me ok?), visit and laugh together, and those of us that have kids were delighted for a chance for the next generation of cousins to get to know one another better.

I didn't get a picture of everyone who was there - I'll work on that for next year. The collage above makes me think of my Grampa Bateman, who upon reflecting on all of his grand and great-grandkids, has been heard to say with delight.."not an ugly one in the whole bunch!" Did I mention I love my family?

Crisis, Crisis, Crisis...ok you get the idea
There were a lot of unexpected events that happened this fall and winter. Ones that make you hug your loved ones a little tighter, pray a little more, and realize that all the plans that seem so important when you make them, fade into nothing when a family crisis hits.

The key one being my youngest sister ending up in the hospital for 12 days mid-December. Things are a little more stable now. We were never really worried for her life...ok, we were, but we were told we shouldn't be.

It certainly felt like a Christmas miracle when Kyla was discharged on Dec 23rd. She is expecting baby number two, and we are so thankful for each prayer that was prayed and we continue to covet each prayer. They still don't know why she's having the heart trouble she is, but so far the baby is fine and we are just praying she gets better soon -22 weeks seems like a very long ways to goht now.

I am always so thankful my family functions like it does when crisis hits. We all know how to pull together and help out one another. We'd rather avoid crisis altogether, but it's not nearly as scary going through things when you know your whole family has got your back. Someone will encourage, another will clean, another will babysit, and another will hold your hand while you wait...I love my family.

Talk amongst yourselves, I'm feeling verklempt.

Cookie, Cookie, Cookie Starts with C

I thought it wouldn't happen this year - but on Christmas Eve day we did it. We lit candles that make the house smell like a pine forest, turned up the Christmas music and we baked up a storm. I was so thankful for that day, it truly was a gift. With all of the other unexpected events that happened preceding Christmas, it was beginning to look a lot like the Christmas baking that we so enjoy doing and eating, wasn't going to happen, but it did!

On a totally unrelated note, I am officially on hour 9 of South Beach/17 day/Low-Carb diet. It's totally unrelated to this though. Truckloads of Salted Caramel Shortbread, Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Mint Brownies, Melting Moments, Root Beer Cookies, Meat Pasties and Schnetze (farmer sausage rolls) have nothing to do with it.

I'm pretty sure that the only vegetables I ate in December were tree-shaped sugar cookie covered in green icing.

Christmas Giving starts with C and then a G, sort of.

For the month of December we had our oldest three kids earn money through doing extra chores around the house. That way they would be "earning" the money they needed to buy a Christmas gift for the sibling whose name they drew. We also decided to split the money they made 50/50 with the person whose name they drew and then the other half would go to a gift for a child in a developing country. (We chose the World Vision Gift Catalogue) It was great to see the kids working hard to give good gifts to their siblings and to make a difference in a child's life around the world.

Despite our utter exhaustion, and despite the fact that everything seems far too chaotic, the kids had their annual sleepover in our room...it's a lot of mattresses in case you wondered! Somehow we managed to get their stocking supplies out of our bedroom without their noticing and we got everything ready early in the morning and summoned them with the traditional "ho-ho-ho, MEERRRRRYYY Christmas!"

I am admittedly not the best picture taker. I usually have one or two pictures of Christmas morning, and that's it. I blame getting so wrapped up in the events going on that I don't take time to stop and capture more than a couple of moments with me camera.

Mental note for next year - make sure to get a picture of myself in the Christmas morning montage!

Christmas Cry
Josh is an excellent gift giver. He has learned the way to make Christmas great, is to make me cry. You don't feel this way? I tell you, you are missing out.

I had shown him a necklace that I liked - but it required ordering well in advance to make it here before Christmas. He did it, which surprised me (it shouldn't have). "The kids" gave me this beautiful family tree necklace. I felt loved. I felt unworthy of the fantastic family I have. I felt loved some more. I cried. I almost made some of my kids cry, so I pulled myself together. Everytime I wear the necklace, I still feel the same. Maybe it will help keep Attila-the-Mom at bay, when I remember how blessed I am to be a mother of five.

Then the man who knows me better than anyone else gave me an ice cream maker. There was much rejoicing. It is so. much. fun. I may make myself cry some more, for totally different reasons, if I don't stop eating ice cream with such wild abandon. But the possibilities! The fun! The fat!

I was made for this ice cream maker. Thank you Honey, for always giving such good gifts.

Honey...mmmm...honey ice cream....wait...what?

A New Year, A New Post for Family Matters!

2012-01-06T08:03:00.000-08:00

Hey there blog friends!

It's a new year: time to reflect on all we've accomplished in the year before and make plans for all we would like to become in the new year.

I'm not really good at making resolutions - unless you count "gaining five pounds (minimum) because of the new ice cream maker I was given for Christmas" as a real resolution. Attainable? Yes! In keeping with the spirit of what resolutions usually entail? Not so much.

Despite my issues with setting goals, I did write about a type of goal setting that our family has been doing for the past few seasons that we have really liked. It's on the Family Matters blog today -

Here's a teaser for you:

I love lists, or at least the idea of lists. By nature, I’m a little too free-spirited to really use a list, but there are small, neglected Perfect Country recesses in my brain that nudge at my Fun Country self and ask if they can play. I entertain these thoughts occasionally and go through phases of thinking about all that I would like to get done in a day, a week, a month – you name it, and then writing it all down. Of course it goes without saying that the best part of writing a list is crossing things off of said lists, because finishing something always feels good. In fact, sometimes when I’m feeling discouraged I write backwards lists – things that I have recently accomplished and then proceed to cross them all off. Don’t knock backwards list writing till you’ve tried it! It gives me that little boost of “you can do this” and I begin to tackle the next seemingly impossible task – even if it’s just slaying the dreaded Laundry Monster one more time.

Never mind that I often go to the grocery store with a beautifully written list, neatly categorized, only to forget the two things that were absolutely essential for that evening’s dinner, despite that they were written out in my best Getty-Dubay script. I can only pretend to be from Perfect Country for so long.

Head on over to their blog to check out the whole article. Then if you are so inclined - leave a comment on their site and tell me what you think!

Our first wishlist!

Happy New Year and Happy Wishlisting! Now where is my ice cream maker, I've got a resolution to fulfill!

Where have all the Blogposts gone?

2011-11-26T11:08:00.001-08:00

They're there in my head.

The blogposts, I mean.

We've been doing so many good things, and yet the end of the day comes, and the computer gets neglected, and all the wonderful, thankful thoughts and reflections just sit there, simmering on the backburner.

Here are some of my great reasons for blog procrastination:

The Queen of the DIY
It probably has a lot to do with the fact that once fall is upon us my indoor project genes kick into full gear and no corner is safe. Once I get going, it's hard to stop.

These nasty beasts were transformed over a weekend...or two, I can't quite remember, sewing makes me very forgetful. What I do remember is how faded and gross the chairs were, how much I wanted to change the covers, but also how much I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars buying something new.

I decided it was worth dragging out my sewing machine for my bi-annual sewing spree. The indoor-outdoor fabric just happened to be on sale at Fabricland. I thought about ordering fabric online - but as per usual, I woke up with the idea of recovering chairs and wanted, no, NEEDED to start it that day. I have to grab inspiration when it hits, waiting does me no favours.

I ripped apart one of the chairs to make a pattern. Transferred the chair pieces onto butcher paper, then I started cutting, and started sewing, and three days, two more trips to the fabric store to get more material, and one fit of "what in the world have I gotten myself into" later - it was done. And I am so glad.

The double bonus is that now I have a pattern, and I know how to do it, so who knows what I might come up with next!

Birthday Bash
The Project Queen was reigning supreme when it came time to plan a get together for a bunch of my favourite ladies for my birthday at the end of October. My mom took some great pictures of the girls night of fun, but I have yet to get them from her. Henceforth... no pics. Ergo...there is no blog post about it.

Henceforth and Ergo are underused words, don't you think?

I'm sure it will happen eventually, and if people can scrapbook a Christmas page in June, why can't I do a birthday blogpost 6 weeks after the fact. Justification for procrastination. It has a beautiful ring when I say it like that.

Painter Man, Painter Man...Sing with me!
I wanna be a painter man, or at least a painter woman.

Actually I don't.

I have a love-hate relationship with painting, but I'm very pleased with how it looks now that it's done! I painted a couple of the upstairs bedrooms - it was time to change the kids rooms from fingerprint beige - that's the colour contractors choose when they build a house, right? It's also high time we quit playing musical bedrooms, switching the combos of kids and rooms upstairs and down. Painting them seems to give them a bit more permanence and personality.

I can't wait for the decorating etc. to be completed, they already look so much better! However, most of the decor is being given as Christmas gifts, so it won't be done till after Christmas.

Owee
We made a Fall List, much like the summer list, except, um, Fall-ish. I really love these mini dreaming and goal setting sessions - although it appears they may kill me.

One of the items on the wishlist for the fall was to go bowling. Sounds innocent enough, right? Well if I haven't mentioned it before, let me say it loud and clear right now. I am more than athletically disinclined. I wish it weren't so, but after bowling less than a full game with the whole fam-, almost a month ago I have just about become completely incapacitated due to a severe case of golfers elbow and some schwazzed tendons in my middle finger. (left handed/four fingered typing is a tad slower) So now my middle finger is in a splint, (of course it's my middle finger!) my arm is in a brace and a sling, and I have to manage to not use my right hand for a few weeks...no problem. It's so ridiculous, it's comical!

With form like this, it's hard to believe my injuries weren't worse...stick to music, girlfriend

I'm sure it has nothing to do with recovering furniture, painting two bedrooms and crafting till i was blue in the face for a birthday bash. That's, like, impossible. But I'm not worried. It's not like Christmas is coming,

Well, that's just a little of what's been going on. There are so many good things happening and so many good things coming. Hopefully the medial epicondilitis clears up (fact: learning medical names for stupid injuries makes them sound more noble) and I can get back at it!

Until then - Happy Fall and Happy Advent...what are looking forward to this December? That's a post in itself for me!

Saturday Morning Fun

2011-11-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

While my kids are sorting and classifying the leftover Hallowe'en candy, I thought I would share our new favourite way to do breakfast on Saturday morning. It was something my kids did at Josh's parents place a few weeks ago, and Brennan loved it enough to get himself in the kitchen and teach us all how to make this fantastic breakfast treat!

Things I love about this recipe, in no particular order are:

Bacon. Amen.
It's easy to customize - the kids label their own bags and do the whole thing by themselves - yay for independence and not having to remember who likes what, where!
No frying pan to clean up. And again I say: Amen.
Brennan doesn't usually gravitate towards cooking - but this will get him working in the kitchen every single time, and that makes this Momma smile!
It deserves to be said again: Bacon.

This recipe has been lovingly dubbed "Egg in a Bag" by our family - and probably by a lot of other people who have made the same thing.

But I doubt it has ever been shown in such an excellent series of high quality and artistic photographs.

Begin series:

Crack

Seal

Get rid of all your frustrations through mashing

Frustrations gone, egg mixed

Bacon

Don't forget to label the bags!

Boil!

Toss 'em in!

Serve

Voila!

Please can I kiss this cook?

Where we discovered the cheesy ones need extra cooking ! *Please note we did not feed our son under-cooked eggs!

Yummo!

Tada! It just slips right out!

Egg in a Bag

Karinaloewen.blogspot.com

Prep Time : 5 min plus (depending on how much prep your mix-ins require)	Omelette served in: 15 min
Yield: one, two-egg omelette
Ingredients:
2 large eggs	Mix-In Ideas:
Salt and pepper to taste (optional)	Grated Cheese
Splash of Milk or Cream (optional)	Crumbled Pre-cooked sausage or bacon
Medium Freezer Bags (Must be high quality, thick plastic bags- we used Ziploc brand)	Diced Ham
	Chopped peppers or spinach
Directions:

· Fill alarge pot with water and set to boil.

· Crack twoeggs into freezer bag – I am told onedoesn’t work that well, so stick withtwo!

· Add saltand pepper and splash of milk, if using

· Seal bagwell and smoosh it around until the egg is well blended

· Open bagand add mix-ins – about a Tablespoon of each mix-in seemed to work well – we usedbacon and shredded cheddar last time!

· Seal bagand shake to mix

· Doublecheck the bag is sealed

· Toss inboiling water

· Cook for 5– 7 (ish) minutes.

Hints:

· One egg isnot enough to work well – haven’t tried three, but it would probably work, thoughyou might need to increase the cooking time.

· We foundthat “egg in a bag” without cheese cooked in 5 minutes, but with took about 7minutes.

· Bacon isgreat, and should be added to as many meals as is humanely possible. Just doing my part to support the porkindustry.

I'm looking forward to Saturday already!

Hallowe'en Poetry

2011-11-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

To begin our Hallowe'en recap, I give you a haiku I composed when reflecting on the pumpkin carving experience. I just can't keep talent like this to myself.

See the young onesscoop

Pumpkins full ofstringy mess

Don’t barf! I’ll do it

Moving on.

On the Eve of Hallowe'en

Cleaning out pumpkins is apparently quite nauseating...and scary

The night before Hallowe'en we carved our pumpkins. I always intend to do them a few days before, but honestly - it always seems to be a last minute rush. Josh starts preparing the kids for an inevitable let down: maybe this year it will just be too busy to get them done. I usually agree with him - it always seems like it's going to be a insurmountable task to carve seven orange gourds into enchanting luminaries. And yet, somehow we manage to get them hacked into something worth lighting and setting on the steps - enchanting...perhaps not, but at least it's done!

We could probably do better, but as long as we set the bar low enough, our kids will not know the difference, right?

The kids' pumpkins: as unique as the kids who think up their designs!

My pumpkin and Josh's - bonus marks if you have any idea what they represent. There's some serious artistic licence being taken there.

Hallowe'en
The kids got all costumed up - I planned for ~~weeks~~ ~~days~~ hours to get their costumes just right.

Thanks are in order:

First of all, thank-you London Drugs for being the first store in the area to have their costumes at 75% off on Hallowe'en Day.

"Capt'n, I need more Pow'rrrr"

Live long and prosper my sons, may the fortunes of pre-Hallowe'en sales always find you when your mother fails to plan good costumes in advance.

Sugar-rush anyone?

Secondly, thank you Sher for being a cheerleader in highschool and saving your uniform. Even if I had been cool enough to be a cheerleader, I'm sure I would have gotten rid of it by now!

And thank you Keaton, for being perfectly happy to be a puppy, the same as every three year old brother before you was.

The Warming Station
Then we got ready for what is easily my favourite part of October 31st: Our "Warming Station".

There was a moment while we were madly setting up, hoping to have everything ready before anyone started the neighborhood rounds, and Josh was running back into town to pick up styrofoam cups, because I have to - HAVE TO forget something important before each and every event I host, that I thought - this is a bad idea. We won't pull it off, I should blow out the lights, close the garage and just forget it.

But as always, I was wrong.

It was fantastic. Even better than last year.

It was great to see many familiar faces come by with their kids to say hello and grab a hot chocolate or cider to keep them from freezing on their walk about. Even better were the number of people who said they had been hoping we would do this again. It hadn't occurred to me that we weren't the only ones who had enjoyed the warming station last year! Silly me.

I had printed off simple postcards inviting people to join a neighbourhood facebook page. The response was really positive, and a few have already joined. Who knows what could happen here between this year and next?

When I wrote about our simple warming station idea for Family Matters last month, I was pleasantly surprised to hear how many readers were inspired to do, or were already doing something similar. If you did take it up a notch connecting with your neighbours this Hallowe'en - leave a comment and let me know what you did! I'd love to hear about it!

And because I love to share my poetic genius with you. I leave you with this:

Getting to know yourneighbours is dandy

Especially on nightswhen they’re out getting candy

Give hot choc-lit togo

And you’ll soon get toknow

All their names, whichwill come in quite handy!

Amen.

Redeeming Hallowe'en - Family Matters Post

2011-10-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all! That's right, I included the oft forgotten apostrophe in the word Hallowe'en. I feel all Mean Ol' Schoolmarm when I do that, but I kind of like how it looks.

I've got a feeling...that today's gonna be a good day, today's gonna be a good, good day. (Everybody sing with me!)

It's my birthday, and this means the day is going to contain lots of food, friends and facinators, which I'm sure you know is the trifecta of birthday perfection. It's also a great example of alliteration and could almost be a three point sermon outline.

Birthdays might make me a bit hyper. Sorry.

It's also a great day because another post I wrote for Family Matters is up for all to see.

Here's an excerpt for your enjoyment...

The best day of the year to build community is on Halloween.

People leave their fenced yards, their closed-in garages, and all the other necessary amenities of life that by their very nature detract from people getting to know one another, and walk about the neighbourhood.

This is why, if you can somehow make it work for your family, I suggest getting out there and celebrating with everyone on your street...

Click here to read more...

Enjoy today friends!

Flashback Friday

2011-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

There were lots of summer moments that were blog worthy, but were alas, not blogged about. I whined about it a few weeks back, then I thought of this excellent post name: Flashback Friday - made for the procrastinator in all of us.

Try not to be astounded by my brilliance.

I promise not to act shocked if 37 other bloggers have already thought of this fantastic idea.

I don't know how often I will do Flashback Fridays, but today seems like a good enough day to start!

Rain, Rain Go Away.

The beginning of the summer was less than stellar, weather-wise. The backyard was still soaked from months upon months of fall-winter-spring rain, and it was cold and miserable. it was a necessary exercise to embrace the rain, and make the best of inside days.

Rainy home days often start the same: with a cry of "No one wants to play with me" (translation: someone older than me doesn't want to play with me). Because I am no fun, I often give them the option of doing a chore, or playing with someone younger than them. I'm inspirational like that.

I love how each kids unique talents lead them to do different things with their younger siblings when they are "forced" to play together.

Nate's specialty this summer - was fort-making. He loves to create and pretend.

Not to be mistaken for an overgrown Laundry Monster!

Fort making is happy making

King of the Castle

Brennan's specialty, is train track design. He started perfecting this skill when he was three, and although they tracks don't get taken out very often since Lego, Bionicles, and Wii have taken over his list of favourite things to do, he can rock out a pretty good configuration in no time.

Morgan, when she chooses to bless her brothers with her playtime, usually ends up directing, filming, and starring in "shorts" than they kids dream up together. This has actually been a great deal of fun for all of the kids and their friends when they get together. They make up silly interviews, or they reenact their favourite Star-Wars Scenes, or do stop-motion films with various toys. Usually the emphasis is heavy on the silly side of things, and because I don't want to ruin their future chances for employment, I won't post any clips, but did manage to steal a few screen shots.

My specialty on rainy days, and everyday I feel like it, really, is food. Sometimes if they day seems boring, I try to make the food fun. This probably why i feel like I need to lose 5 pounds - it was a rainy summer. I made lots of fun food.

Soup in a mug is twice as fun!

And that was a rainy day well spent.

I think I like Friday Flashbacks. We get to relive the fun, without the calories!

Growing Patience

2011-10-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

In a moment of temporary insanity I asked Keaton to help me plant tulip bulbs on Saturday. Sometimes, because I like to be so fast and furious in every task I undertake, I will intentionally ask one of the kids to do a project with me, because I know I need practice in the area of patience.

He didn't want to help so much as do it all by himself. He might need a little practice too. He might be an awful lot like his mother in more than one way.

It was a lesson in patience for both of us.

And eventually he got bored and went to do something else he loves.

"Mom, I jes' go jump on de trap-o-LEEEN, and den I be right back" Which is a lot like "dat's go-be all done"

As Keaton was off enjoying some solo time on the trampoline, I had this crazy "life is like gardening" thought and the more I thought about it, the more it encouraged me.

Sometimes I think raising kids is an awful lot like planting bulbs.

You do a lot of work, and you really don't get any feedback that tells you that you have done a good job. In fact, a lot of the time it looks like you haven't done anything at all. Sometimes it looks like despite your best efforts the only thing you are growing is weeds. Bulbs will do that to you. So will kids.

Bulbs left without nurturing and proper planting will never become a flower. Kids need nurturing and proper planting too.

Whether it's a big thing like trying to teach a child to control their temper, or something little like training your little one to stay in bed till 7 am, you can spend months wondering if you've done it right in the first place,if what you're doing is making a difference with your kids.

And all you can do,really, is wait for spring and hope your bulbs have been growing beneath the surface. You hope flowers poke through- not too early and not too late, and then bloom. You hope the beauty that you knew was hiding in the gnarly brown seed is now made evident.

With parenting, you hope all those good qualities you've been working on are growing in your kids too.

The waiting can be hard.

Being consistent with your kids, while you're waiting for something beautiful to grow within them can be much harder.

But hang tight.

Spring is coming.

A Grand Day Out

2011-10-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

Once a year, Tyson needs to go to Children's Hospital to have routine bloodwork and other medical check-up type stuff (at least, that's the very technical term I am using) to monitor the blood condition he has.

This year, just he and I went in together.

I love all of my kids a whole bunch...do I even need to say that? Yes, I do, because all mothers do. It's like we're worried people will think we favour one kid over another if we talk about something we appreciate about one without mentioning our undying devotion to the remaining offspring...so silly, but now that I've said it, you know it, so we'll be good. Amen.

I digress. One thing I love about Tyson is his general good-natured-ness, especially when it comes to being out and about. He is a great travelling companion. Even when he has to be brave and get poked and prodded with needles and get asked all sorts of questions that he doesn't appear keen to answer.

On the magically delicious drive in to Vancouver I told Tys that I thought we should go out for lunch together when we were done the appointment. He could barely contain his excitement. I asked him where he'd like to go, and it typical form, he smiled a big smile and asked: "Where would you like to go, Mom?" ,because that is how Tyson rolls. He wants you to be happy, so he can be happy.

We had left two and a half hours before the appointment because last time we tried to get to Vancouver for a different event, at a similar time of day, it was the road trip from h-e-double-toothpicks, (that's right, I just did some Christian blog swearing) and traffic was a total nightmare. On this day, for whatever mystical reasons - we were there with an hour to spare.

What's even more amazing, is that they let us in right away; we waited for nothing - which I am pretty sure is unheard of in the medical world.

We talked to the doctors and nurses, and had all the regular conversations that leave me feeling like an inadequate mother. You know the ones - "What kind of food do you like, Tyson?" Pizza and dessert!, and then they ask -"Do you like vegetables?" To which Tyson cocks his head and stares at them like they are speaking Danish. Which then leads me to blurt out something sarcastic (shocking!) about how because I am actually an ogre I do make him eat fruit and vegetables, it's just he'd rather not.

Then my favourite question is always some variation of "What school do you/your siblings go to?" which of course, royally confuses a five-year-old kid who doesn't go to school. And nobody knows what to do when we explain that we do school at home. The conversation just ends. Enter crickets and awkward staring. We move on, I try and make light hearted conversation, and talk about you know, Justin Bieber or something really hip and relevant to prove that I am a cool Mom who's up with latest important news.

My goal is always the same - to have them think that we are their very favourite patient-family. Ever.

Like we're gonna leave and they're gonna say "Oh my goodness, are they not the best people...ever?" "That kid is so sweet and cooperative and the Mom is so hip and yet so medically competent." "No one is more informed about the necessary precautionary steps for potential hymolitic crisis." "If it weren't for patient protocol I would totally ask them to join us on our next vacay!"

Tell me I'm not the only one?

Are those more crickets? Dang.

Tyson is sweet and cooperative, although he is usually much quieter there than anywhere else.

He is so brave when he gets his bloodwork done.

I love the questions he asks in the quiet times in between while we wait.

He consistently says things like "Mom, you're doing such a good job getting me a snack." Followed by an unprompted kiss. Tyson is a great encourager. If you ever need someone to notice the hard work you are doing - he's your boy.

In the end, he decided against Boston Pizza - "Mom, I still hate Boston (Bruins)" and picked White Spot over McDonalds - dude knows a good thing when he hears it. Free ice cream and a sweet potato fry upgrade wins with this boy every time.

"Mom, I just love sweet fries." I'm pretty sure he thinks they are regular fries with added sugar - cause he would always choose more dessert if possible. (See previous conversation with Dr.)

We lunched, and visited. He drew me pictures of sunflowers.

He told me that his favourite thing about our family is when we do things we have never done before, "like camping, or maybe bowling or something." He loves his Daddy because he works so hard for us. And he really is on the fence about Keaton. He did eventually admit that sometimes they do have fun together.

The purpose for the trip might not have had fun written all over it, but we made the best of it, my little companion and I. We added one more coin to the memory bank, and it was indeed, a grand day out.

Another Day in Paradise

2011-10-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

On the Thanksgiving weekend, we managed to align umpteen schedules and almost everyone was able to go to Mom and Dad's for our Thanksgiving dinner.

I was going to collage all these pictures, but Paradise (aka, the farm) can't be contained to a collage. Bear with me while I have a moment...

This moment of perfection brought to you by God

Cue angels singing

The Cattle are Lowing

Cue the music!

And by music I mean the sweet sound of a chainsaw getting the job done.

Dispensing with tradition, we had Thanksgiving around the campfire. It was fantastic and memorable - hot dogs and smores, when cooked on the hottest bonfire in the history of, well, my life, just gave me one more thing to be thankful for.

Loni and Mom - notice the hands on the hips...Pretty sure I'm on my way to that stance in the picture too. I love that.

The older I get the more I discover that it is not in the perfect moments that memories are made, it's in the less than perfect ones that memories stick with you and make you smile. Thanksgiving on the farm delivered loads of almost-perfect moments.

Grampa and Tyson talking about Math, if I remember right.

You say fallen log by a tree, they say ninja fortress

Who needs toys?

Hotdogs being barbecued by kids ranging from 5 - 12, who because of the intense heat can't get close enough to the fire, so they settle for half cold/half-burnt variations, is a good memory for starters. To be fair to the kids, I don't think that adults fared much better in their barbecuing endeavors. Adults just know how to sell it better. "Oh yeah, this burnt crispy layer on the one side of the dog is just how I like it. And when it's still got a touch of cold in the centre, while blistering hot on the outer layer. Totally perf."

All trying different roasting techniques. I'm covering my face -from the intense heat, all the while telling my kids to be brave and just go for it. Such a double standard Mom.

One set of sticky fingers...

There are memories of little kids and big kids climbing on the tractor with sticky hands from marshmallows and from juice poured in tippy plastic cups on the back of the "hay wagon". I know Dad is going to appreciate that memory every time he climbs into the tractor over the next few weeks.

Sticky fingers and faces from marshmallows oozing out the sides of smores with almost-perfectly roasted marshmallows and chunks of jerseymilk chocolate bars that never melt no matter what trick you try began the sugar rush memory of the day.

In my mind, the most memorable part of the bonfire was the not-so-little reminders left here, there, and everywhere all over the fields, telling us that we aren't the only ones on the farm. The spins around the field in the dune buggy drove that point home in a big way.

One thing my sisters and I were most thankful for was Mom's stash of clean pj's, and her washing machine when all the fun was done.

Maybe that is the Thanksgiving lesson to take away from Paradise - if we had let the threat of cow poop keep us from going out into the field to try something new, we would have missed out on all those great moments, that's we're still talking about today. The crap in your life makes things messy, but way more memorable.

Here's to being more thankful in all things, and many more Thanksgiving bonfires.

Tweens are Great! - FM Guest Post

2011-10-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

Morgan and I went out on a coffee date again this past week.

We got Josh to take a picture to mark the occasion.

It looked like this:

It should be noted I am wearing 3 inch heels to appear taller than my girl.

And then the batteries died.

We wanted to go out.

Gelato was calling.

So we left. Food trumps picture taking prowess in our house.

Despite the bad lighting, and the bad quality setting, I love this picture. Because it shows off a moment in our relationship that is growing and becoming so good.

I wrote about our dates for Family Matters this month. Here is an excerpt:

A tween is often defined as someone between the ages of 8 – 12. Other times a tween is defined as an alien who has taken over a previously innocent child’s body…either way, you know you’ve got one when you get there!

It has been for the most part, a fabulous journey, one that makes me look forward to the coming teen years. There are good times to be had in Tweendom, people! I hope that some of the fabulousness is due in part to some choices we have made and habits we are growing to help us make the most of every age and stage of life and parenting we go through.

Continue Reading here!

The beautiful photography work in that post is courtesy of my sister, Kyla. She does amazing work! You can check out her business, Pinball Photography, here.

Happy Monday!

Good Things

2011-10-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

Morgan's cake making and decorating skills continue to expand. Yay for her, bad for my waistline.

I love fall. I was born in the fall. I got married in the fall. I married someone who was born in the fall.

Here are a few fall things that can be added to the endless People and Things I'm Thankful For list:

1) Fall Projects

The spring and summer tend to be filled with more backyard/ flower-bed/ future-garden projects. But now, the projects move indoors. The project for the day: taking these boring, faded chairs and make some fabulous slipcovers for them.

I say project for the day - that's the optimist in me talking. It probably will take several sessions throughout the week to make four slipcovers. And, if it works really well, I'll probably go all crazy and make a couple more - because we need some additional seating in our living room, and they would require new chairs with new covers...first world problems, hey?

EW - please release me, let me go.

Poor naked chair

I don't know for sure that my pattern-making and sewing skills are up to the task. However - they are chairs MADE for slipcovers. And to do it myself for $20 a chair, with a fabric that is way more fabulous than what is available from IKEA, but way less expensive than the fun covers available at BEMZ - well, it's just too much to resist.

The ultimate seam-ripping experience. This cover gave it's life that it might become a pattern for the others.

I have confidence in the fact that it CAN be done because people on the internets tell me it is so.

Enter the soundtrack to my life: "I have confidence in sunshine, I have confidence in rain...I have confidence in confidence alone..." that soundtrack gets me into a lot of trouble. Thanks, Rogers and Hammerstein . :) I'll let you know how it turns out.

2) Cozifying the Home
I am not sure if the word cozify should have one y or two, if it should have a hyphen, or in fact, be hyphen-less (ironic, I know). What I do know is that it should definitely be a word. I found these great corduroy pillows on sale at Superstore, of all places. They are perfect for fall, and they add just what the room needed. I hope it distracts from the chairs in the room that obviously need new covers.

Do they distract from the faded leather? I think so.

About the chairs. I had this moment last week, when I realized that there wasn't a room in the house where we could all sit together, save for the dining room. So I played musical chairs with the outdoor set, the tub chairs in the seating area by the school room and moved them here. I like it, except for the colour - (see point 1)

Welcome Fall

This little guy keeps fixing the lovely tipped basket of pine cones on the hearth. He just doesn't get the whimsical and cozified decorating scheme I am going for. He'll learn to ignore my decorating soon enough. For now we play this great game of "fix the basket". Good times all around.

I have big plans for the pictures and the "L" above the mantle. How quickly those gets done has everything to do with how the chair covering project goes.

3) Fall Routines
Am I the only one who feels like September up and smacked me in the face? It took me a long time to fall in love with this one again this year. Josh often comments on how funny it is that I crave routine, and yet I push against it. I need wide boundaries and strong fences, it's true. It just took the whole month, and a desperate email to my fantastic support teacher to figure out a reasonable schedule for this year.

It has been a big adjustment adding a new student to the schooling mix. I don't know why I didn't anticipate it, but it was difficult figuring out how to teach four kids. I blame unmitigated optimism. Months like that are hard on the ol' confidence soundtrack. So much so, that I questioned whether or not I should continue homeschooling. But through much prayer, wailing, whining, and gnashing of teeth, I kept coming back to the same answer - Yes, this is the right thing for now, but No, it won't always be easy.

I needed a big reminder that building endurance comes through walking through hard stuff without quitting. So, if September also smacked you with a big two by four, and it hurts not here, or here, so much - let me stand and cheer from the sidelines and say a great big YOU CAN DO IT!!!! (or i can sing Fat Guy in a Little Coat for you if you'd like).

I have my Mom and Dad to thank for building endurance in us as kids. Mom also taught me the very important lesson of seeing my own shortcomings and then doing what you can to grow in those areas. It's just the way I am, was never a good excuse around our home growing up. I'm thankful for that now.

We have found a good rhythm now, and it includes good moments like this almost every day.

"Vanilla Milk" whilst reading history at the BEGINNING of the day (what a difference the timing makes)

It's important to note that I re-learned a great four letter word this September:

HELP!!!

What did you think I was going to say?

4) Fall Food
Barbecues are great for summertime. Sure, we like to rub it in to all our relatives in Manitoba that we could barbecue hamburgers in the rain on Christmas day if we wanted to, but the lion share of it gets done in the summer months.

The food of fall is rich and warm, and calorie laden. What's not to love?

Mini-Pumpkin scones. Made mini so I can have two, or three, or four in one sitting.

My favourite fall recipes usually include pumpkin. Or zucchini. I have yet to try zucchini and pumpkin together though.

I promised a friend I would put my chocolate zucchini cake recipe on the blog. I actually reduced the sugar and fat a bit from the original recipe, and made them into cupcakes/muffins. It's a very good recipe - and worked well as muffins. True, it's no Last-Minute Brownie sugar rush, but it's a totally guilt-free-serve-to-my-kids-for-breakfast-or-lunch recipe, speaking of hyphens.

I'm only a month late Kim, but if you can find some overgrown zucchini in your garden, here it is! If you click on the recipe title, it should give you a pdf document to print out!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Karinaloewen.blogspot.com

Prep Time : 20 min	Muffins served in: 40 minutes
Yield: one 9 by 13, or 2 dozen muffins	Cake served in an hour
Ingredients:
½ cup butter	2 ½ cups flour
1 ¼ cup sugar (original recipe – 1 ¾)	4 Tbsp. Cocoa powder
2 eggs	1 tsp. Baking soda
½ cup buttermilk (or milk plus 1 tsp lemon juice)	½ tsp. Baking powder
¼ cup veg. Oil (original is ½ cup)	½ tsp. Cinnamon
¼ cup apple sauce (omit if making original recipe)	½ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla	1 – 1 ½ cups chocolate chips (I’m just guessing – I just sprinkle it on top of the cake, or in the mix till it looks right!)
2 cups grated zucchini – peel first if you are opposed to green flecks (which I love!)
Directions:

· Spray 9 by13 pan (or muffin tins) with non-stick spray, if needed.

· Preheatoven to 325° F

· Blendbutter and sugar

· Add eggs,milk, oil, apple sauce, vanilla, and mix well.

· Addzucchini and mix.

· In aseparate bowl mix all dry ingredients except chocolate chips. (This is very important to do separatelywhen making a reduced fat recipe. Youreally need to be careful not to over-mix once you add the wet to the dry, toensure a light and fluffy muffin – especially when the fat is reduced!)

· Add dryingredients to wet, and mix until just combined. I believed I “pulsed” the mixer 6-7times. You can also mix by hand, andthat works out very well too.

· If makingmuffins – add chocolate chips now and barely mix them in J Scoop into muffin tins and bake for Approx 20mins, until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.

· If makingcake – Pour into prepared 9 by 13 pan and sprinkle chocolate chips. Bake for approx 40 minutes, until toothpick inserted incentre comes out clean.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sixteen

2011-10-07T06:06:00.000-07:00

Sixteen years ago, this boy gave me a ring. I am the younger one in the picture - despite the fact that Josh looks like a 14 year old.

We both said " I do".

There's been better, there's been worse. We've been richer, and poorer. We've had sickness and health.

We had no idea the commitment and self-sacrifice it would take to make till death do us part happen way back then. But it has been so worth it.

Together is my favourite place to be with you.

And for the record...I still do.

Dear Blog

2011-10-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Blog,

I miss you. It's been so long since we've talked. And writing for you is very therapeutic for me. I'm in need of some serious therapy, and I'm ready to talk again.

Summer was fantastic, and there are so many good memories and moments that we created that I didn't blog about. That makes me sad. And I know it's my blog and I can do whatever I want with this memory making machine here, but I'm disappointed that I didn't get it done in a timely manner.

And I know I'll figure something out, cause if I can do one thing, it's rally. I'm never stuck with lemons for long. And the lemonade I am making out of a difficult September transition is proving to be some of the sweetest ever.

Sorry you have been forgotten in all of the madness. We need each other, so I'll add you to my rally list, and we'll be back at it before you know it.

I'll write about it soon. I promise.

Leaving The Failure Parade

2011-09-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

I realize this whole post is just whining with a cute dress on - so feel free to ignore it. Really, I just want to get on with what needs doing without all this internal kvetching. Writing helps, it would seem. I feel better already; almost like I can go and conquer the school schedule and the laundry AND the peaches in my life right now.

I probably love to conquer more than I should.

I don't do laundry - I conquer it. I don't teach a lesson - the lesson in conquered. I don't make dinner - dinner prep is conquered. In fact, I don't even eat dinner -eating is conquered - as quickly and politely as possible.

This love of conquering is a double-edged sword, and also happens to be the main reason I don't consume alcohol. I'm sure you'll agree that, while interesting, that is hardly the point of this post.

Sometimes, when the conquering isn't going well, I unintentionally throw myself a Failure Parade.

Have you ever gone to a Failure Parade?

I seem to attend one every time I start something new, and this September is prime-time for parades. September is always busy, and I always chafe a little at getting back into a more rigorous routine (of conquering), but the din of the parade is wearing me down this week!

It's not depressing me, it just makes me feel, I don't know - grade-nine-angsty. You know exactly what I mean, don't you?

I feed the failure parade when I listen to those voices that tell me I'm not enough, that what I know I'm supposed to do, can't be done. It's a different kind of crazy-making than say, dealing with a schedule that is over-booked, or a life situation that is unavoidably stressful - although the parade often makes an entrance there too.

The problem is me. I feed the parade. Heck, sometimes I buy cotton candy and join the hecklers. I remind them of every screw up I've ever made in the past and encourage them to throw insults, cause after all, I probably deserve it. I give credence to circumstances that shouldn't define me and allow the one or two voices of those who don't matter carry more weight than the many, many people who are screaming "You can do it - don't give up!" at the party on the other side of the street.

Girlfriend has had enough. I know what I am supposed to do right now. I know it's gonna be hard sometimes. But I know I can do this, and I can do it well, and I can do it with joy.

I'm going to listen to the voice of Truth. The voice of God. The Voice that said I was worth dying for. The One who gives me the strength to do what I do well - not just to survive life, but to grow, to thrive and in the best sense of the word - to conquer.

If I spend more time listening to the voice of the One who knows me best the parade fails to materialize. When I actually count the myriad of friends and family who do such a great job of cheering me on when I do well, and lovingly holding me to account when I miss the mark, in contrast with the very small number attending this Debbie Downer of an event, then I think the Failure Parade won't matter so much anymore.

The people on the other side of the street are at a way better party than me. It's time I bought popcorn and crossed the street.

As Three as Three Can Be

2011-09-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

This little schnert turned three at the end of August. Most of the time, I'm okay with that.

You might say he marches to the beat of his own drummer.

And most of the time, I'm okay with that, too.

Right now, Keaton is especially in love with:

his cousin, Wyatt...except for when they're trying to kill each other.

his friend Madi...except for when they're trying to kill each other.

and his big brother Tyson...except for...you get the idea.

While I'm sure he loves all of his Aunties and Uncles, he is also especially in love with, or at least in love with the idea of, Uncle Matt & Auntie Fify. Every single night he prays for "Unko-Matt an Auntie Fify, and der baby will be so healfy and so strawn and so healfy....and so strawn... and dey lif in a tree...Mom, dey lif in a tree?"

How "Botswana" translates into " a tree", we will never know!

What I especially love right now:

His puppy imitations, with real puppy kisses, make me laugh every single time, though I try to contain myself. It's certain that a three year old tongue is not nearly as hygienic as a dogs.

I love how honest and easy to read he is. It's true this is not-so-secret-Mom-code for when he's happy, he's really happy, when he's not, he's reeeaaaally not. But I really do love him to pieces, even though he has me questioning my ability to raise him on a weekly, if not daily basis.

I love the little songs and jingles - his soundtrack for life- that he so often is singing while he is playing or moving from one thing to the next. Sometimes it's parts of a recognizable song, other times, it's just part of life. I agree that life deserves a soundtrack, and when in doubt - make your own.

I love what a natural problem solver he is. It's true that gets him into as much mischief as it gets him out of, but I never doubt his ability to persevere!

I love the way he asks for whatever it is he wants with the end note of : " and dat's go-be all done." Except you know as well as I do - he never is! His favourites include:

"Mom, I take your glasses, and I put them on Keaton, den I give them back to you, and dat's go-be all done"

"Mom, I have one more fwoot snacks, and dat's go-be all done."

"Mom, I have a baf in your room, and den we add bubbles and den I be all clean, and dat's go-be all done."

He'll never be done, he'll always be doing something, and that is something I totally understand!

I don't always love the screaming fits, but so far I manage to quit screaming before it gets too out of hand, and you know, we're working on it, cause we love each other, right?

I love you to the moon and back Keaton - Happy Birthday!

Learning is as Learning Does

2011-09-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hey there! It's that time again - the Family Matters blogpost of the month! This time we're talking about...duhn, duhn, duuhhhhnn....education! It seems fitting to talk about it while we're flying our homeschooling flag high this week and enjoying a little camping vacation during the school year.

Here's an excerpt for your enjoyment:

Thirdly, and this is fairly important: I think the ways we choose to educate: homeschooling, private schooling or public schooling, are neither good nor bad. There is no right or wrong way to educate your kids. Or to paraphrase Paul in Romans 14: “everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it, or talk about it, contaminate it.” So if you want the definitive answer on which method of schooling you should choose, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

On to the good stuff:

Click here to read the whole thing!

May you grow in confidence and strength in whatever form of educating God has called you to!

Favourite Things

2011-09-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a mad flurry of activity getting ready for the new school year. We sort-of-kind-of follow the traditional school calendar, so tomorrow marks the beginning of the new school year for us.

Here are my three favourite school things this year :

3) Unreasonably Decluttered School Room

You know it, and I know it - this room will never look like this again. In fact, it doesn't even look like it right now. But I love getting the possibilities this picture holds right now. It speaks to the optimist in me.

That's right, my school room talks to me.

I'm just willing to own up to my weirdness now - it's the freedom that being 34 and 3/4 brings.

2) Organization That Compensates For My Weaknesses

I love these spice racks from Ikea - they are inexpensive, ergo, I have bought MANY of them over the past year and used them for everything but a spice rack! They work perfectly inside these cabinet doors, and they hold a multitude of sins - or in this case, stationery. We're trying a single station stationery concept this year, rather than pencil cases. I love, love, love these glass canisters.

I hope it works out. Really, I'll be okay if it doesn't - because at least the containers will still look nice with mess all around them.

I am trying to embrace my need for things to look like something fun, and yet they also need to be manageable and simple. These are saying "you can be spontaneous and clean up quickly, and so can your 5 year old" to me right now...what? Your containers don't talk to you either?

1) Clipboards

I am a visual learner. I am also very forgetful. I also like things to look nice. Here's hoping these kill three birds with one stone. They are meant to hold the kids weekly assignments, and any booklets, or other things that need regular updating.

Almost Forgot:
I don't know if it's a runner-up, or really the grand prize winner, but this year I bought a laminating machine. Let's just say no piece of paper is safe!

We're looking forward to the school year, although there are still lots of events from this summer I hope I get to writing about before the sunshine is but a distant memory.

Here's to new beginnings - may yours be fantastic too!

Faster, Higher, Stronger...Coffee, that is

2011-08-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

I would like the thank Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) for making the consumption of cold caffeine so much tastier and the delivery far more expedient. The Perfect Iced Coffee recipe is now the gold standard for an afternoon pick me up 'round here.

It's delicious and convenient, and did I mention delicious? I have just made my second batch this summer. Suffice to say that my daily coffee routine has expanded.

While I do enjoy being spontaneous, I have a few routines that make my life really good.

The coffee routine goes like this:

Josh, my man servant of 16 years, makes me a fantastic latte in the morning. We savour that morning quiet time together. Mornings are always better when we start this way.

Good Morning, good morning, to you...

For starters, we peel ourselves out of bed at six. It's not so morbid once you get used to it, seriously.

Liquid Energy?

Some days we talk about the plan for the day, or upcoming events, other days we just sit outside in silence, begging our eyes to stay open. Usually, by 7 o'clock, when the kids are allowed out of bed, we are ready for the day.

That used to be it for regularly planned injections of caffeine, unless a friend stopped by for a visit. But now, I can enjoy my vice over ice in seconds. I usually start with a full cup at 2, and then refill at 2:15 and 2:30 - cause, with all that ice, it's hard to get a full glass. I could quit at any time.

Beauty is everywhere

Try it for yourself. I actually do a half recipe at a time, cause it all fits perfectly in my super-sized pitcher.

Perfection - even if it's the fridge and not the coffee that is in focus

True, there is now no large container available for making iced tea, but I think the kids understand that sometimes in life you have to make sacrifices. I am always looking for opportunities to teach life lessons like that.

I just have to remember not to leave it unattended.

Hi-Ho Cherry-O!

2011-08-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

We are getting some out-of-towners visiting here for Christmas this year. Out-of-Continenters, actually.

We are very excited. Keaton's new daily question is "Matt & Fify here today?"...Not yet, Sugar - but oh, so soon.

We hear the Missus really, really likes BC cherries.

Handwashing is a must before helping - hair brushing, apparently not.

So we're getting ready and freezing a bunch so we can enjoy all things cherry when they arrive. Ideas for frozen cherries include: Cherry Granitas, Cherry Scones, Waffles with Cherry sauce, Cherry pie...Merry Cherries!

Quality Control

I'll not be canning any though. Just can't do it. I never like them as a kid, and I still don't really like them in the canned form. Sorry Mom. I know you did it cause you loved us, and Mark and Dad really liked them, but a "no-thank-you" helping is all I need.

I had never bought a cherry pitter before. Considering it cost a whopping $3.49, I am not sure why I never did it before. So, I made up for it, and bought three. That way, I could ~~put my slaves to work~~ let the kids help.

Morgan was not wooed by the promise of easy cherry-pitting. But I am sure she will be voluntold to do a batch before the week is out.

The boys were totally excited to help.

Tyson: "Mom, it's like we are a cherry factory!"

Tyson and Keaton weren't quite co-ordinated/strong enough to make it work. So Tyson happily took to de-stemming for us, and Keaton just took to stealing pitted or non-pitted cherries and eating them.

I love "putting away" fruit in lots of forms. It's satisfying to see the freezer full of good things, and the promise of good times and good memories shared with others in the future.

My freezer tells me it's gonna be a great Christmas this year.

Just Add Water

2011-08-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of summer - otherwise known as the first week of August, we spent the day at our friends house. They live on a lake. It's beautiful; a close second to paradise.

What's even better though, is that they have cameras and take pictures of my kids, and then they remember to send them to me. I wish it were just an old, overused joke - but they have bailed me out of many cameraless situations - it pays to have them belong to the same dance studio, for example.

We love spending time with them. Everything about getting together is always good: the kids, the friends, the conversation, the food, the water. We always leave looking forward to next time.

I wanted to call the post "friends with benefits" - but I hear people might think I was talking about something other than really good friends who take us on boat rides, feed us ridiculous amounts of fabulous food and teach our kids (and maybe me, next time, if I don't over-stuff myself at dinner) to water-ski.

The benefit of friendship with the Olsons started in highschool, and it just keeps getting better with time.

It started with just Josh and Josh - J-squared. They were friends before Josh and I started dating. My Josh... the Josh I am still married too, not that Josh- confused yet? We usually refer to him as just "Olson" otherwise it feels too much like my husband is talking in third person. It works, anyway.

Then he met Katherine, and it got sweeter. Now I no longer had to try and keep up with conversations on Quantum Physics (I could never keep up) and "Darmok and Jelad at Tenagra" (I could sort of keep up). We could talk food, and life, and other important girl stuff. I also love Katherine because she has a sweet-tooth that matches my own - remember the fabulous brownie recipe? It's hers.

So good, and so good for you.

Then they had kids, and now the sweetness can barely be contained. I reserve the right to marry off at least one, if not more of my boys into their family of girls.

I love it! Right, Katherine?

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Family Matters #3

2011-08-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

It's that time again - my August post is up on Family Matters blog today. As always your comments and feedback are appreciated on their website. If you have any other blog post ideas, I'd love to hear them here!

Here's a teaser from this month's post:

Being busy is a fact of life. But is your busyness a blessing or a burden? Are you so busy you only have time to do and none to be? Both are important, but the being often gets neglected for the sake of doing.

Here are some thoughts on why we get ourselves burdened by busyness and some ideas on what we can do so we can feel blessed by it instead!

1) WE LIKE THE ATTENTION THAT BEING SUPER-BUSY BRINGS:

When someone asks us how we are doing, we get far more attention and sympathy by complaining about how busy and stressful our lives are than if we say otherwise. We live in a world where dramatic sound bites get the most attention, and it’s not terribly different in the world of mom-to-mom conversations...

Way Back When, Or, A Few Months Ago

2011-08-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

I was looking back through my pictures and realized there's a whole lot of memories I forgot to blog about. I'm sure you appreciate that if I wait any longer these moments will be forever gone from my memories,. I just lost too many brain cells growing babies to think I could remember this many things. It's one of the reasons why I started blogging in the first place!

Please pardon the flashbacks. Better than hot flashes at any rate - which I am sure are only a few years away!

Big E, Little E, What Begins With E?
Easter, Eggs, and Elephants, E, E, E...

Once upon a time, it was Spring. Which around here, looked a lot like winter, and the fall before that. We did as much as we could to make things seems like they were coming to life inside the house. Outside, things were just drowning in downpour and darkness!

You'll notice I went for the terrarium look this year. 'Twas a happier option for keeping the littlest of fingers at bay. Or at the very least, it made more noise when El' Destructo was at work.

I need to give kudos to our babysitter, Rachel for making the very fun dyed eggs with the kids. Maybe she'll teach me how to do it next year.

Sorry, there weren't actually elephants. Maybe next year.

Bake Your Own Sunshine

We tried embracing the wet and rainy-ness by making perfect comfort foods as often as possible

Pictured here.: real corn bread with honey, followed by the most sacrelicious maple-bacon scones. I told you there would be bacon in the next post featuring food!

Mmmmm. Bacon makes everything better. I might have to revisit this recipe soon, who says scones aren't summer food!

The recipe is actually just a maple-oatmeal scone which, I am sure, was fabulous all on it's own. I'd like to think I improved it by 26% by adding bacon.

You can find the recipe here, and then bake a pound of bacon in your oven, chop it, and add it at the perfect time. Then men in your life will thank you for making scones manly enough for them to enjoy.

Another Birthday Boy
And in between all the other things going on, this little guy had the nerve to grow up and turn five on Easter Sunday.

2006

2011

We didn't have a big shin-dig this year, but we had some family fun, and it included a bouncy castle - but, as I have lamented in the past, I didn't bring my camera.

As is usually the case, these two celebrated their birthday together. They go way back.

Does this make you want to cry, Loni? I might.

Tyson and Jackson both had the nerve to grow up, and I can't quite make myself believe that in a few weeks they will be starting school.

Look at my muscles, Mom. I'm tough.

Oh Tyson, you are so sweet- in the most manly, big-boy, tough-guy kind of way. I know it's tough to figure out how your cousin who is 3 weeks younger than you could be taller, but not older. You'll get the hang of it one day.

You are easy-going and are consistently hilarious. "The world is coming to a bend.!" has to be one of our favourite Tysonisms.

You are gentle and strong. Dad and I love it that we can count on you for a big good morning hug and a kiss, just because you love us so.

Your smile always wins!

You are ready to start school. I'm so excited for all you will learn this year. You already have a good start with knowing your alphabet and your favourite word: T-Y-S-O-N. I am so lucky to get to be your teacher!

But please, don't grow up too fast, little man.

Saying Yes Takes Practice
Some other good times:

Bubble baths in the soaker tub. Saying yes to bubbles is always the right choice. Saying yes to the big tub in my bedroom is also something I have finally learned to say yes to a lot. Soon the days of tubs and bubbles and little Santa Claus faces will be behind us. I hope I will have learned to say yes to a great many more things by then.

Ho-ho-ho, Merry Christmas!

I also said yes to playing games with the kids more often. Probably not as often as I could have or should have, but I attempted to say yes to that more!

Full Confession: I am not a good game player, in fact I am not good at playing anything, except for the piano and even that could be debated. It's not because I'm competitive or a sore loser, but because my hyper-productivity gene kicks in at about the 15 minute mark, and I find it hard to stay focused on the game/play and not start folding laundry or making scones - or something. I have always been a teensy bit jealous of my Mom's ability to play.

Jenga is a perfect >15 minute game!

I hope I get better with age.

Note to self: make time for more games...maybe add it to the Fall List of fun.

The Best is Yet to Come
I'm trying not to panic that the last few weeks of summer are upon us. Panic has a way of eating up the joy in the room. We are making good headway on our summer list, and making the most of many moments. We're even making new friends doing it all, so there's solace in that.

We finally have summer weather; it may even stick around long enough to make some more hot weather memories. Solace can be found there too.

I find solace in solace.

In fact, looking back helps me remember that for all the imperfect moments that I don't blog about, my socks are blessed clean off with good things.

Memories uploaded.

I am surrounded by good things, most of them: people.

Now, we keep moving forward - there are more good times ahead.

The Power of Together

2011-08-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labour. Ecclesiastes 4: 9.

I was reminded again today, that the best cure for a Pity Party is to harness the Power of Together.

I find if I don't accomplish some of the many things on my to-do list with someone else, using this magical power of together, I start to get overwhelmed and cranky because I feel like I am trying to conquer the world on my own. But let me share a vision of something that I want to accomplish, and join me in my quest? Now we're talking.

The pity party I threw for myself last night lasted through till the morning, and I'm so glad that there were already plans in place for Sher to come over today, otherwise I might still be pouting. Pouting isn't cute on a five year old, but it's really ugly when you add 29 and 3/4 years to that.

I think I'd live in a commune if I could. People that live in communes understand the power of together like no one else. And while I believe it's important to know yourself and not feel like you have to be like everyone else, I really believe life and love and living are better when they are shared.

She came with the intention of getting a jump start on post-camping laundry, and so she kind of had to listen to me kvetch while her quilts were being rid of all of those things that smell so good when you're camping, but are totally "ick" once you get home.

After a while even I got sick of the sound of my whining.

Sher must have been too, cause she offered to vaccum my floor. (A good friend knows that a clean floor says I care about you almost as much as chocolate) So we got the kids together and we blitzed the house back in order with a big group Ten Minute Tidy. I was starting to feel better. Then, I did what I always do when I'm starting to feel better. I convinced Sher that she really needed to do a project with me..."together".

She was really lucky to be my friend today.

I do especially love the power of together when everyone working on it can benefit. So we conquered pie making. It's probably not the last time I'll do it this summer, cause well, if i don't make a few peach pies for the freezer, I might get the bends.

On the menu today: strawberry-rhubarb and apple.

This pie crust reminds me that I need to go bathing suit shopping

Remember the rhubarb? Yeah, it's that stuff.

I'm a slave driver, and yet she keeps coming back for more

We made seven fantastic pies, that are freezing as I speak. The kids, who all played superbly with one another while we toiled in the kitchen were also rewarded with the best part of pie making - cinnamon-sugar twists with the leftover dough!

The kitchen got messy once, but now we each have some pies to share with company...work once, have a bunch of good times - that's my kind of math!

7-8 minutes at 350 deg. F
So good, and so good for you

Today, as I changed my focus from all about me, to all about doing something together with someone else, I began to notice how the power of together makes life so much better.

Doing a Ten Minute Tidy on my own might get a floor swept. Having five, or more, kids join in the TMT? The whole house feels better.

Harnessing the Power of Marvel Superheroes doesn't hurt either.

Making a fort on your own is really hard, but put your hammers together, and you've got a perfect place to be on a sunny afternoon.

Thanks Rupi for the hammer - it made doing the project together even better!

One rose is beautiful, but a bouquet of roses? Stunning.

One pie makes a yummy treat, but a stack of pies for the freezer? Multiple Happy Times ahead, baby.

We build more with the power of together.

We grow more with the power of together.

We share more with the power of together.

We accomplish more with the power of together.

We love more with the power of together.

We are more, when we are together.

How does the Power of Together make you better?

I Heart My Family

2011-08-03T07:13:00.001-07:00

I love my family - as in the big, big family.

I say it like it's some big secret I had to get off my chest...or not.

This weekend was a perfect example of one of the things I love most about my family - spontaneity. I don't know for sure if it's the first time my siblings and I managed to pull off a "gathering" without my parents, but I am sure we pulled it off in a way they would be proud of.

This means: lots of food and less than an hours notice.

Mark called at 8:30 when Josh and I were having a very late-for-us morning coffee, and by 9:30 I was on the road, with everyone, save for Josh who had to work, and headed for the farm.

No rest for the wicked, I guess.

I grabbed hot dogs and buns from the freezer, snatched a perfect-for-a-bunch sized watermelon from the fridge and was out the door. This could have been enough to feed everyone in a family that isn't obsessed with food being the main feature any time two or more are gathered together. But fear not, this was only my contribution - reinforcements were coming with my siblings as well. The well would not run dry!

This was only the beginning...

I got to the farm first, which I always enjoy, especially this time of year, and especially when Mom and Dad are away.

I check on the chickens, gather eggs, weed the garden, transplant beets that need thinning, peek in on the zuchinni, just to see if any are ready to be harvested and made into fantastic dinners or delicious baking. All the while my children play, nay, they frolic through the yard. I take time to survey the bounty and beauty that surrounds me and I say to myself..."It is good." I love everything about being on the farm, but am so, so glad not to have to maintain it.

We frolic like bandits

I also like being there first because I get to then steal as much rhubarb as I like.

Or maybe I like it because it's just a chance to play pretend, like it's all my own, and my survival through our tough winters depend on it.

This is clearly a result of a still over-active imagination. That and reading Little House in the Big Woods like it was my job, growing up. Am I the only one who wanted to be Laura?

Eventually everyone showed up, bearing baskets and bags of food to share with one another and a great party ensued.

Mom and Dad were still on holidays, and we missed their presence, to be sure. It wasn't the same as usual, but, oh we had a good time! I was so sad we had to be the first to leave.

The kids played, pretending not to hear us when we told them to stay of out of the "chicken poop", as one nephew mistakenly called it. The babies pretended they didn't need naps, cause who could sleep when there's a party? And we laughed.

We made jokes about a certain one of us who pulled a "mom" and "just picked up a few things" to add to the party - to the tune of a hundred dollars.

We polished off a box of fudgeos and oreos before we even unpacked all the grocery bags. The speed and volume at which we can eat, is something I am sadly, quite proud of.

my favourite equation: food + family+ more food = fun

We passed around babies and started telling stories only to have them interrupted by children passing through the kitchen. The kind of stories and jokes that make you wish you all spoke German, around the kids that don't, so that you continue on talking about what you'd rather not have little ears hearing, followed by more laughing.

Nobody thinks they are funnier than all of us together. And it's because nobody is.

I hope my kids love each other and feel like they're lucky to have each other when they get together. I hope they do it even when we're not around to make it happen. I hope they know they will always be welcome home, even if we're not there to open the doors for them. I hope my parents feel like they've done something right when they come home and find the house tidied up, but the pantry and the freezer a little emptier than when they left.

By the way Mom, you're out of ranch dressing.

I hope we get to do it all over again soon.

Almost Fun Parents

2011-08-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

Were were almost fun parents last Tuesday night. We almost took our kids to the theatre to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie. We went because my friend Monica suggested we go together, and it was a capital idea. However, after a few tries, we have had to collectively admit defeat. Winnie-the-Pooh on the big screen was just not meant to be. One week we double-booked, so we re-booked. For the re-book we didn't pre-buy tickets. Then today, we were all ready to buy tickets in advance of tonight's show, and the show is no longer in theatres. Cue: wah, wah, waaaaah...music.

We were planning to go to the theatre in town that was, back when Josh and I were dating, brand new and fancy and everything. It's now the smallest and oldest theatre in the general vicinity. Amazing what 20 years does to a city! For the summer it has been having Toonie Tuesday movies, which is the perfect price to pay for an admission when you are paying for seven - or any number, for that matter.

For some reason we didn't expect there to be many people there, being that the theatre is so small an Un-Colossus-y. It's not even a little bit Silver City-ish, so we didn't even think to pre-buy tickets. We arrived half an hour early only to find the parking lot 100% full, and a line out the door and winding almost into the jam-packed lot. Oh dear.

We still had high hopes that people were there to see something else - I mean we still had half an hour to go - but 5 minutes into our waiting a staffer came out and announced that all of the early shows, save 3 were sold out, and yes, that included Winnie the Pooh.

They're all sad we didn't see them in a theatre near us

Bummer.

There are few things I like less than disappointing my kids. We rarely, if ever, go to the movies, so this was a really big deal. Although, if any theatre executives are reading this blog, we would go a lot more if it didn't require taking out a second mortgage to see a film on the big screen. And poor Monica, because she is way nicer than us, felt even terrible-er.

The adults did what adults can only do in a situation like that. We started to really up-sell the benefits of coming back next week instead of watching the movie that night. (Nevermind that it turns out it's not showing anymore)

The bigger kids were able to understand very quickly how out of our hands the whole thing was, but Keaton was very disappointed, and he wanted no part in getting back in that van. It turns out though, that he can bought with a bag of chips and a video rental. Phewf.

Now the kids can talk about "remember the time when Mrs. Monica came over for dinner and we DIDN'T go see a movie"...talk about great memories.

To be fair, dinner with Monica was a great memory - the not going to the movie part, not so much.

At least we have our summer is an attitude moniker to get us through. And we're going to hopefully see "The Smurfs" tonight, albeit without the fun addition of Mrs. Monica.

I hope it works out, or I might have to take a big black marker to any of our movie watching aspirations to our summer list!

A Very Overdue Thanks

Monica has a very special place in my heart. She gave me a chance over 13 years ago and believed in my potential at a point in my life when I really, really needed it. She gave me a job as church secretary when nothing on my resume would have led her to think I was qualified for it.

It absolutely changed how I saw myself. Somewhere along the way, we started referring to each other as Pinky and/or the Brain. I never could remember who was who - but I loved that job, and we loved working together. She embraced the creativity I brought to the office, and did her best to teach me to keep my desk clean. (That may have been a lost cause, although I would do better at it now - maybe she did teach me something in the regard after all!)

So Monica, thank you for being a very positive part of my history. You made a difference then, and I have no doubt you will continue to bring out the best in those you work with now.

And thanks for keeping in touch, what a gift when your former boss becomes your friend!

Keen-Wah

2011-07-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

I'm having one of those down days. Not down as in sad, down as in, winding down from 2 weeks of swimming lessons. I'm getting absolutely nothing accomplished, and that is totally okay with me. I just finished five levels of swimming lessons, after all.

What better thing to do to wind down than to make myself a nutritious cup of coffee (98% water, so it's healthy) and blog about making dinner.

It's almost like making dinner, only fewer calories. I might lose another 10 pounds if I devoted more time to blogging and less to eating. There's a thought.

When I don't feel like cooking, and/or have spent the "eating out budget" for the month, and/or I just want to say quinoa (pronounced: keen-wah)multiple times in one evening, this is my go-to meal. It's all hipster and everything (which I am not, but I like to think if I was 10 years younger I would be) because it has quinoa and ALL of my kids love it - even Tyson, who often appears to prefer air over anything served to him.

As long as you have black beans, corn and quinoa, you're good to go; any other vegetables you want to add just add flavour and colour! I'm sure Jamie Oliver would be proud. It takes only a few minutes of actual prep and after 20 minutes of watching quinoa cook - dinner is served.

Plus, Quinoa is really fun to say. Try it.

keen-wah. KEEN-wah. keen-WAH.

You can also say it like you are going to do a karate chop: Keeeeeeeeen-WAH!

Keen-wah, keen-wah, keen-wah.

How can you say no to this fantastic sounding dish? Notice I have avoided using fantastic-looking because, alas and alack, I am not a food artist, and let's just say it - it doesn't look like much.

But did I mention it's perfect for a Meatless Monday? Because it is. Perfect. And Meatless. Who knew both things were possible?

Did I also point out that I was feeling rambly today?

I make meatless dishes fairly frequently now. I truly wasn't aware it was an option when, as a newly minted wife, I first started cooking for Josh and I. True, I was only 18 and my vast cooking repertoire included following recipes by Jean Pare, spaghetti sauce, chili, shake'n bake chicken and chocolate chip cookies, but still. I remember Josh suggesting we make a margherita pizza when we first were married and I looked at him like he had been sniffing glue. Seriously? Next thing you know he'll be telling me we should recycle.

Pshtt. Whatever.

In our house, growing up, we always had meat for dinner. My Mom is the Queen of Roasts, and the Conqueror of Comfort Foods. We grew up very well fed and there was always, always, meat and lots of it. I was going to say we occasionally had pancakes for supper, but even then, I am positive there was always bacon.

Mmmm, bacon. Is there anything it can't do?

I promise the next food-post will include bacon.

For now, enjoy the hipster Quinoa Dish. Recycle the cans when you are done - it's for the enviyerment and everything.

Hipster Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn

Prep Time : 15 min	Dinner served in: 40 minutes
Serves: 4 if main, 8-10 if side dish	* large frying pan with lid will be useful
Ingredients:
1 lug vegetable oil	1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced	1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 c. Broth – I usually use chicken	1 ½ tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp. chilli powder	s & p to taste
1 large can (19 0z.) black beans, drained and rinsed	1 ½ c frozen corn
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, OR 2 Tbsp dried	Whatever other sauté worthy veg you have on hand,– sauté with onions in step one, or do separately and add to mixture at the end. Seriously it’s that flexible.
Directions:

· Pre-heat frying pan, add oil and heat on medium heat, add onion and sauté till soft. Add garlic and sauté till fragrant.

· Add quinoa to pan and sauté for a couple minutes longer then add broth and seasoning EXCEPT cilantro.

· Bring mixture to a boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed into this most miraculous ancient grain.

· Remove from heat, add frozen corn and black beans, and cilantro.

· Heat through and serve!

BTW – this fabulous meal is also great the next day in a tortilla wrap, or eaten cold atop a salad – or even straight out of the Tupperware container...not that I have ever done that. Ever.

You can eat it here or there,

You can eat it anywhere!

*you can click on the title of the recipe to get a .pdf format if you prefer!

All in the Family

2011-07-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

The Summer List

We have no big summer plans this year. We had high hopes of travelling to Manitoba to visit some relis that we love and adore, but we had to make the tough decision to be financially responsible and stay home and save up a little longer to make that happen. Being responsible is sometimes a bummer.

Sitting around and moping was not going to be a summer theme, though, so following the example of my friend Chris, we made an official, very large summer wish list. It has been a great thing , and I highly recommend it, even if it's just for the remaining weeks of summer.

It's been nice to have a visual reminder of things we'd like to do and places we'd like to see. It's not even going to be possible to do everything on the list - you'll notice Manitoba is still on the list - because you can do that when you dream...dream the impossible. It was a fun family activity to make the big list and it's continued to be fun as we check things off and think of new things to add to it. Maybe we should make one for the fall too, dreaming together takes me to my happy place.

We Interrupt This Blog Post...

We had a most unusual visitor in our backyard on Friday (at least I think it was Friday) morning in our backyard. Nathan, Tyson and Keaton were eating breakfast when Nathan, in his best hillbilly voice, says: "There's a BAR in the yard!"

And I said something to, you know, build him up and encourage him. Something to the effect of : "Yeah sure, Davy Crockett."

To which he responded - "I'm serious, there is a bear cub in our backyard!"

Sure enough there was. I ~~began to madly search for~~ calmly took the camera and hoped to catch a picture of what I hope to be a once in a lifetime experience. At this point the boys were squealing with delight to one another all about the bear, and I guess Smokey decided that was about enough commotion for him, so he waddled through the little gap between the neighbours and our fence, hopped up their retaining wall and then back to the greenbelt

We do not live in the middle of nowhere - sure there is a greenbelt surround our subdivision, and sure we technically live in the mountains, and sure we've often seen deer along the roadway, and we've had the occasional raccoon and numerous squirrels and chipmunks in our backyard - but a BAR??? Well soak my feet and call me a pickle, I never expected to see a bear.

And We're Back...

One of things Tyson put on the summer list was a sleepover with his nearest and dearest cousin, Jackson. I let him put it on the list, even though doing sleepovers anywhere but at Gramma's house is not the norm for these two. It happened to work out though, that Loni was working, and Gramma was away - and so the Amos boys had to come for a "leep-over", and Tys and Keats couldn't have been more excited.

I have often felt bad that because I had most of my kids before anyone else in my family did, I never have been the "single, fun and fancy free" aunt that my sister-in-law and sisters were able to be to my oldest kids. However, when cousins come over to play here now, there is no end to the kids and excitement, so I guess it all works out.

Jackson and Tyson never got tired of each other, especially because Nathan and Brennan were happy to play with them as well. Wyatt and Keaton spent the weekend in the usual ebb and flow of playing and fighting with each other, just like a couple of 3 year olds should.

And Morgan, while all of this boy-ness was going on, decided to make cupcakes. Inspired by a cupcake book, and by the number of times I have taken pictures of fun in the kitchen - she documented her progress, unbeknownst to me. What a fun surprise to find when downloading pictures! They turned out great and tasted even better. Way to go, Babe!

What Doesn't Kill You Makes a Great Memory

One of Keaton and Wyatt's favourite games to play is "Let's See How Close We Can Come To Killing Ourselves", it's actually a game that Nathan invented, at least in our family, and seeing as how they aren't our first boys, Loni and I usually are okay to let them play that - or we're just too tired to stop them. Either way, the outcome is the same.

This weekend's version included climbing the wall at the back of our yard, putting ride-on toys into the trampoline and racing and jumping with them as fast as possible. They had fun AND they lived. Bonus.

Bedtime stories for the boys were a success. Nathan was so excited to read Tyson and Jackson a bedtime story. I love it when they get to that stage of reading!

Once everyone was tucked in they only needed to be reminded a couple of times to keep the sillies at bay. I guess they wore themselves out - it wasn't too long before it was quiet and they all were asleep. They stayed that way for the whole night! Another installment into the Good Memory Bank was made.

Given that the weather has been less than stellar this summer, we have coined the phrase "summer is an attitude".

Artwork courtesy of Nate

Summer so far, is sweet at the Loewen house.

Swimming Success

2011-07-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

It would appear the seagull has left the building.

Not a seagull

Screeching has been replaced by a lot more positive self-talk on Keaton's part in the morning: " I go in da pool, an I play wis Mike (his instructor), an I make bubbles and NO SCREAMING."

We like to celebrate with chips bigger than our heads

Then he comes, he swims, and he conquers -woohoo!

Yay Keaton!

I think what I love best about watching his lessons is how proud his siblings are of him. I think that's something we have done well - created a culture of encouragement in our family.

I had to endure this

To get this - Love ain't perfect, but it is grand!

We all try really hard to celebrate the successes big and small of each family member, and not spend too much time asking "why not me?"

Anyway, I love that there are a line-up of hugs and high fives and snacks waiting for each kid as they exit the pool.

Chips followed by apple - the yin-yang of snacks.

Summer Love and Guilt

This summer has been my favourite so far.

We are busy enough to say we are doing something, but not so busy that we can't have fun.

Time for pancakes in the morning

I made the decision to say no to a few good things in July, and while I still feel that guilt that I am not doing enough, I can't ignore the fact that we are in a very good place right now because of it.

Time for the beach with Nana and Papa

I feel I must confess - we didn't do VBS at our church this year, not at all. The kids didn't go, nor did I volunteer my time or effort. We "just" did swimming lessons and then some random summer-ish things on some of the afternoons. There have also been some one-off good things in the previous weeks that we had to do, but they were good too. In part because I had less on my calendar than I might have.

To ease my guilt, I bought a bag of cheese off of the things we need list from church - so in a very small, abstract way - we did help. As my friend Karis told me when i was kvetching about my guilt - "cheese covers a multitude of sins"...including skipping VBS, apparently.

Time for Drama Camp

I have really enjoyed this past week. Although I feel like I have been beating back guilt with a big stick. Our church is great. They have a phenomenal kids program throughout the year, and VBS is no exception. We didn't say no because it was a bad thing. We said no because it was going to make our busyness a burden if we added it to the list of things we were saying yes to.

We are so blessed to be busy. We have so much freedom, so much choice, I want my kids to hear me telling others about how glad I am we get to do life together. But it takes work, and where we live, it takes saying no to a lot of good things so we can actually have time to live. Complaining about how busy and crazy my life is easier, but hardly better. I want to squeeze the joy out of every moment if possible.

It's all about balance, I suppose. If I say my family is my priority but commit to so many things that we are all cranky and too over-tired to build good relationships, then something is amiss.

This is the sermon I give myself on a regular basis, anyway. I am trying hard to find the right balance, and I happy to say that this week, it worked out!

It's time to go enjoy some more summer - the sun is actually shining!

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time."

John Lubbock

Things I Wish I Had Pictures Of

2011-07-20T23:33:00.000-07:00

I have got to get better with carrying my camera with me wherever I go.

Take today for example:

Seagull in the Rec Centre
We started out with swimming lessons, which are always fun.

I should have a picture here of the oldest four kids dutifully doing their lessons with smiles and looks of joy as each stroke and glide is perfected.

And then I should have multiple pictures of Keaton totally cooperating with his teacher when it was his "turn" to do whatever it was, followed by a high-pitched screaming "Mom...Mom...Mom" ,so that he sounds like a seagull circling a crab carcass at English Bay, in between each segment of his lessons.

Just to clarify: it's not the "look at me, I'm having so much fun" scream. No, it's the "why is my mother making me do this" scream.

You know, the one that makes you think everyone in the pool is looking at you, cause well, they are.

We had talked about all the fun snacks and things he would get when he did a good job happily doing his lesson. He had cheerily put the sticker-book-of-fun and the Jumbo Jet-puffed marshmallows in the swimming basket himself. Apparently, the power of food has yet to grip his heart.

I'm working on it, I promise.

Seriously if you saw how well he cooperated when it's his turn, you'd know it had nothing to do with fear of water, or even fear of the teacher.

It's basically fear of appearing compliant. It's common on almost-three-year-olds, I've found.

And although I didn't do it, I thought about standing on the wobbly plastic rec centre chair from afar and giving him the Look of Death while raising the Pointer Finger of Seriousness with a implied message of "YOU. STOP. IT. NOW" .

On second thought, maybe it's ok to not always bring a camera.

Instead, I just sat far away and tried not to think that every time another mother looked around that she was looking for the errant seagull inside the rec centre building, or that each time a mom leaned over to talk to another mom, she wasn't talking about what a wretched parent I was.

Thankfully, Keaton finished the last half of his lesson without screeching.

I wonder if he will think his Scully impersonation will need work tomorrow?

If I could get over the fact that some moms might be judging me for leaving him in the pool, which I am totally confident is the right thing to be doing in this case, it's kind of funny.

Moooom...Mooooom...Moooom. Starfish float. Moooom...Mooom. Motorboat bubbles.

Next time you hear seagulls, I know you will think of me.

But don't you wish you had a picture?

Down on Grampa's Farm

After lessons I packed up my seagull and my other four fantastic fish and we went to the farm to visit my parents.

My littlest nephew Atticus was there. He's so sweet, I love him to death, but I don't get to see him nearly as much as I would like. My sister Kyla was also there, sporting a fantastical new haircut. I am, in Christian-love, totally jealous at how cute her hair looks in a pixie cut.

But you'll just have to take my word for it.

We ate lunch, and then my other sister, Loni, stopped by with her kids and the visit got even funner!

What? It's a word. Spell-check says so. And how else would you describe something that was only a few people short of a spontaneous full-out family gathering?

But still, no pictures.

I wish I had a picture of Wyatt and Keaton breathlessly running full tilt into the kitchen from the chicken coop,hands full of fresh eggs.

"We got some eggs!" they squeak (or squawk in Keaton's case) together.

Those two little problem-solvers sneaked down to the coop, propped up crates so they could reach the laying boxes and took the eggs, proud as could be. Then they ran to the house without giving second thought to the chickens potentially escaping from the now-open laying boxes, or the potential mess they would find themselves in if they tripped running back to the house. But they made it, as they always do. And the coop was closed up before any chickens went missing, which is good news.

I love it that they are starting to build a relationship with one another now. We might do well to fear for their lives, because they have no fear themselves. But seeing them play and discover and make memories together is priceless.

I just hope I don't forget - cause, well - you know why.

Like A Sister

There was a time, back when I was still growing babies for a living, that I was sad that Morgan didn't have a sister. I was never sad that I had the wonderful brood of boys I did, just sad that Morgan wouldn't have a sister.

Morgan didn't even have any girl cousins for 10 years, until Bennett came along last year. As it stands, they are the only two girls in this gaggle of Strahl grand-kids so far.

Today, whether it was because Morgan was bored with the adult conversation, or just because she realized having Bennett around is like having your own live doll, except better - they went downstairs and Morgan introduced her cousin to one of my favourite growing-up-with-sisters games: Morgan played dress-up with Benzie. And the look on Bennett's face was priceless when Morgan carried her into the kitchen dressed in the fuzzy quail-feather hair band and old flower girl dress of Loni's. It was just.so.cute. and I hope it marks the beginning of many girl-stuff memories between the two of them.

I could almost get verklempt, and ask you talk amongst yourselves. And no pictures!

There might be 10 years between them, but I know they are gonna have many more moments like that, and I hope I remember to bring my camera for at least a few of them!

That was today...or at least parts of it. Tomorrow, I've got to remember my camera!

Nate the Great is Eight

2011-07-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

Nathan Charles turned eight last week.

I can't believe he did that to me. I am certain we had a conversation about it once, and I tried to make him promise to stay little. But it's not working. He keeps growing.

He holds the distinct honour of sharing a birthday with my Mom, and a name with my Dad. I'm pretty much the favourite because of it. Or at least I'm still trying.

Actually - he also shares a birthday with my sister-in-law's Mom in Botswana too - it's just a good day to be born!

Birthdays are also a good excuse to eat lots of food. I took a cue from Dairy Queen and made an ice cream cake for when we had my family over...I might have to make it a few more times this summer to perfect it!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake

Memory Lane

It's funny the memories that flood back when I think of the days each of my kids were born.

I remember Mark & Lisa coming to stay with our kids and having more fun with Morgan and Brennan the day that followed than our kids had ever had in their life before.

I remember being in complete denial that I was in labour, because I was two weeks early, and had told the doctor just the day before that I thought we should have booked the c-section date earlier than we had - but who is ever right about that???

I remember it was the first time my Dad was on the other side of the country when one of his grandkids was born.

I remember, when we finally did go to the hospital and it was confirmed that I was, in fact, in labour, choosing to not wake up an anesthetist in the middle of the night and opting instead for morphine and waiting out contractions till the morning, in the hopes that I would finally get a "good block" unlike the first two deliveries.

I remember figuring out that when I did get an epidural that actually worked, that epi-morph makes me borderline insane.

I'm still using that as an excuse.

Nate the Great and Marvelous Mom

May the Friends Be With You

Then we had a fantastic friends party at our house. It was awesome. We picked a theme and we ran with it. Nate loves a theme almost as much as I do! The theme this year: Star Wars.

I think Brennan's 8th birthday party was also with the same theme. That's one of the advantages of having so many boys - by the time Keaton gets to requesting a Star Wars birthday party, I'll be able to do it in my sleep!

We played a few games... most of them involving pool noodles that we turned into "light sabres". My favorite part about those pool-noodle sabres is that they could whack each other like crazy, and no-one got hurt !

So far no-one has noticed that I tend to choose the same games over and over again and just "theme them up" by changing the names...I'm a tricksy Mom that way. We shot silly string at targets, played Freeze Fighting, melted Star Wars figures encased in Carbonite, did a Jedi Training Course, it was all kinds of awesome for these boys.

I might have enjoyed it as well.

Keaton may have slept through the whole thing.

The boys gulped down Yoda Soda (you may have heard it called Mean-Green-Sedin Soda in the past), they ate a shocking number of Fruit Sabres,- I guess it's all in the name, and the boys demolished the Death Star cake like the Rebellion depended on it.

By the way, it was waaay easier making the Sports-Ball Pan into a Death Star than those crazy cake-pucks!

When it was all over we sent them home with some caramel-chocolate dipped Pretzels that looked an awful lot like light sabres for a goody bag. They tasted a lot like a Twix bar - I was sorry there weren't a whole bunch extra...or maybe I'm not!

Nate the Great

Nathan, you are intense. You have been gifted with passion and persistence. I really do love it, and even though it drives me crazy sometimes, I wouldn't ever want you to give up that tenacity, cause I believe it will take you places.

You are hilarious. I especially love your pretend cry "Why do you have to be so mean" and your sinister bad-guy laugh. They always make me smile, even when they shouldn't. Remember - timing is everything.

I rarely worry about you being our "middle child". You weren't just made for the middle - you own it.

May you learn to love and trust that God has some great big plans for your life, Bud.

We love you like crazy.

Oh yeah.

And may the force be with you...always.

Another guest post

2011-07-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

Family Matters has let me write for them again -Huzzah!

I would also like to say a belated thank you to all of my family and friends who were so wonderful to assault their blog with comments for my last post. It totally made my day, (who am I kidding - it made my week!) and I was very honoured that so many of you took the time to comment so positively.

Here's a snippet from my lastest offerings for FM:

God says yes to us all the time. He doesn’t demand that we always pray about whether we buy Cheerios or oatmeal, or paint our walls blue or green. We can die our hair…or not. We can send our kids to public school…or not. We have the freedom to do a lot of different things, when our hearts our right.

Why then, am I so prone to say “no” to my kids’ little requests, day in and day out?

It’s a bit of an oxymoron, really. You’d think I would say yes! all the time because I love doing, I am a.l.w.a.y.s. doing something because, I don’t know, it’s just what I do.

The problem is, saying yes to someone else’s agenda is just about always an inconvenience, or at the very least, an interruption. It is really easy for me to just say no to the requests within their daily minutiae and ask the kids to go and entertain themselves. If I am feeling particularly snarky, I will give them a chore to do, because, you know, they were bugging me and all.

A Jam-Making Non-Tutorial

2011-07-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but my house is usually a direct reflection of my brain.

Yesterday, my brain looked a lot like this:

Not pretty - it freaks out my boys, and makes my girl run and hide for calmer, more personal messes in her room.

Things usually get to this state of disarray, well, every 28 days, but I also seem to get a few extra Hurricane Karina's that pass through my house - and it seems to always be just as I'm getting ready for Nathan's birthday. I'm willing to admit it: I make messes, but I also can't stand living in chaos, so suffice to say I make a lot of extra work for myself.

It probably happens because it's that time of year where we make the transition from a school-year schedule to a summer schedule. Transitions are good - but they take a few weeks to find that comfortable groove around here. It may also be because in addition to having two of my kid's birthdays ten days apart in July, the berry season is in full swing, and there is something about the berry/fresh fruit season that revs up my inner hyper-productivity genes like nothing else.

So anyway I have both of the genetic traits of fun and hyper-productivity in spades - and in many ways they live at peace with each, but every so often they create the perfect storm, which always equals a HUGE mess.

The problem with all of these messes and things that get added to my mental (and I mean mental) to-do list, is that they are all things I want to do. I honestly look at a flat of berries and say "wouldn't it be fun to make jam and pies!", forgetting in that moment that I have to sing at church on the weekend, and have a couple of birthday celebrations that I have to prepare for. Even if I remembered that - the berries are only around for a week or two, and I tend to think of it late in the season, so, busy wins again.

It's a disease, really.

I am getting better - but then there are days like Friday. It's semi-dangerous getting in the way of Hurricane Karina, and I'm truly hoping that making fun of myself is the first step to recovery. I have to believe there is hope, and that one day I will be okay with just doing nothing on a Friday afternoon.

First the title...

I have decided that I am going to use the word "rustic" as often as possible when I describe my activities in the kitchen.

Rustic, if you haven't already figured out, is cook-slang for "lazier". However, when women all over the world see the word "rustic" they all ooh and ahh and are willing to pay five times the price for something "rustic" whether it's a reject barn-wood shelf, or, in this case - jam.

Also, it's worth noting that while I haven't made jam save for a few times - I always find a way to make it without adding pectin, and do a lower sugar variety. That's mostly to do with the fact that I never have pectin in the house and when I decide to do something I don't want to wait, plus I'd like to think it's possible to make jam that tastes more like the fruit in it, rather than sugar - so without further adieu, here is:

Rustic Low-Sugar Pectin-Free Strawberry Jam -
Yield: 8 perfect pints, plus two teaspoons for testing - and maybe a couple for eating right away.

Ingredients:
12 cups (ish) hulled strawberries, measure first, mash second - no cutting - it's rustic!
7 apples, blossom and stem ends removed - roughly chopped (including seeds etc)
1 1/2 lemons, roughly chopped (including peel and seeds)
6 cups sugar (I can hardly believe that's low sugar, but believe me, it is!)
8 pint jars, lids and rings
canning supplies
very large pot... I'm not kidding.

Place apples and lemons in large pot, just cover with water. Simmer for 20 minutes till nice and soft. Drain, press through sieve or run through food mill. Better yet, make one of your kids do it!

Mash the dickens out of the strawberries. Better yet, make one of your kids do it! (Did I say that already?)

Choose the right kid to help though - or you may find a lot of taste testing happens. Don't worry - we'll boil all the germs out of it. Two year old germs are kind of cute, anyway.

Realize that while you could go all day without eating or peeing while fixated on a project, your kids are not the same. Make them the quickest variation of carbs and cheese you can manage.

You do know it's impossible to make lunch without carbs and cheese, right?

Feel guilty that, in addition to mostly ignoring them for the morning, you are only feeding them carbs and cheese, and make a fruit smoothie to assuage your guilt. That's much better.

Add the strawberries to the strained apple/lemon mixture. Make sure there is a lot of room in the pot because it will expand and bubble quite a bit. Boil for 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.

At twenty minutes take a heaping teaspoon of glory from the pot and place it on a plate and put in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Hint - set a timer or you WILL forget, because you will start trying to clean your kitchen in that five minutes!

At five minutes run your finger through the blob - if it stays separated well, then it's done, if not keep boiling, stirring and checking till you're happy with it. Mine took about 25 minutes.

Ladle jam into the washed pint jars. You will have one jar that doesn't need processing in the canner - it can go directly into your fridge. The other seven will need to be processed so they can last for months! Wipe the rims clean to ensure a good seal. Place a lid, that has had the seal properly softened in hot water, on the jar, tighten with ring until finger-tip tight. Over-tightening can cause jars to break while processing, and that will make you cry. And it's really gross to clean up.

What? You don't have a magnetic lid lifter? It only costs a few dollars, but is worth a million when it comes to canning - run to your nearest Home Hardware and get one now!

Place into canner that is half-full with boiling water, making sure the jars stay upright.

(When canning pints in my quart canner - I don't lift the grate and then drop it in once full - the jars tip & move around too much. So I submerse the grate and carefully place pint jars in the bottom. )

After burning your hands a few times trying to sneak the jars into the bottom of the canner, realize you are not invincible and it's not saving you any time, so start using the jar lifter.

You're welcome.

Place the lid on the canner, bring water back to a boil, and then keep at a rolling boil for 10 minutes. use the handy dandy magnetic wand to lift the hot handles out of the water, then raise the jars out. let cool for just a few minutes then place on your counter for 24 hours before you start pressing and poking the tops to see if they actually sealed.

Realize that your house is in such disarray now, you may have an apoplectic fit. Convince the kids it's in their best interest to help you do a 15 minute shakedown to make the house look better. Whatever doesn't get put away in that time, get's put into a laundry basket to deal with tomorrow.

There. You feel much better. AND, you just made jam.

Cause I Once Bought Wii...

2011-07-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

While cleaning out the car a while back, I found these two sheets that Nate and Bren made in Sunday School on Mother's Day, titled: My Mom.

They love to leave things like that lying around to surprise me like that. I think secretly they really love arts and crafts, but they don't want anyone else to know. I'm sure it's not that the thought of eating lunch was more important than bringing a handmade "I love you because..." note to me.

Priorities, man.

For posterity, I thought it would be fun to save the contents - spelling included:

	Brennan	Nathan
My Mom is	Fun	NicE
My Mom’s favourite food is	?	?
My Mom’s favourite colour is	?	?
My Mom is good at	Making food	Cooking
My Mom and I like to	Watch hockey	Play games
My Mom likes it when	She gets coffee	I clean up
My Mom is great because	She onc bought wii	She is kind
I love it when my Mom	Play gams	Bakes cookies

Really, they know me fairly well - I couldn't say what my favourite food is...cause I like all of it.

I don't have a favourite colour - as long as it makes me look 4 inches taller and 10 pounds lighter, I'll wear it.

Oh, and here is Brennan's picture of me from said card as well...all I can say is - at least I am smiling.

I love my boys, and I need to make sure they know that my greatest happiness does not come from them cleaning their rooms, or from when I get coffee. Although drinking coffee in a clean house does feel pretty good, nothing tops being with the people I love the most!

Glorious and Free

2011-07-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

Today is Canada's birthday. It also happens to be Morgan's birthday. I think that everyone's birthday should include as much pomp and circumstance as her's does. There are parades, celebrations galore, it's a national holiday, and who doesn't want to end every birthday with fireworks!

What birthday is this for Morgan? Her twelfth. That's right...t.w.e.e.e.l.l.l.l.v.v.v.e. It's really not possible, because I'm positive I still feel like I'm 25,(except for the fact that I can no longer stay up past 10 pm without going cross-eyed) and I often think I don't act a day older than 19. So how can she be 12?

I know how shocking it is that any parent would write (again) about how they can't believe how fast their kids are growing up. Time really does fly! I want to be quick, however, to point out that aside from the fact that my heart wants to break thinking that she is probably more than half way through living life under our roof, that watching her grow up is one of the more delightful things we get to experience as parents.

There are moments where emotions run a little high, but the good moments far outweigh the tough ones. Morgan is a wonderful kid, teen, tween - whatever you want to call her, she is wonderful. We know that she won't be "ours" forever, but for now, we are loving every age and stage.

Dear Morgan

Without further adieu, here is a top ten list, in honour of you, Morgan. We love so much about you, this is not nearly a complete list! Thanks for being our sunshine for 12 years running now, Babe. We love you!

10) You never act like you are too big or too cool to play with those that are younger than you. You are willing to put the needs and fun of those younger than you first, and because of that, there are a lot of little ones who look up to you, and want to be like you.

9) You are so mature and responsible in so many ways and yet you still know how to play. How I love this about you! In fact, I admire it! I never was good at playing even as a kid, I was always "doing". I think your ability to imagine and be young at heart will do you in good stead, long after the playmobil is in storage.

8) You have an incredible eye for colour and design. I know it seems like nothing to you to create a beautiful hand-stamped card, or draw endless pictures of people and things - but you are so good at it...waaay better than Dad. We've discussed how being better than Dad is not really saying much - but I love it that you and Dad joke about that, and I love it that it is a talent that we share, even though our gifts and personalities are different in many other ways.

7)You are a great dancer. You have a fantastic sense of rhythm and you give everything on the stage. Maybe it's because I am your Mom, but I always think you look like you know exactly what you are doing, and I love that you do it all with a smile. You are so fun to watch - and I mean it. Even though I can't watch you dance, even for 30 seconds in a parade, without crying.

6) Speaking of crying. I love it that you make me cry. When I watch you, or any of your brothers on stage, for any reason, really, I feel so much love for you and I am always flooded with memories of the fun I had doing different performances as a kid. I hope you are creating a heart-full of good memories as well, so that one day, you can cry when your kids get up on stage and make you proud.

5) I love your sarcastic sense of humour. Dad loves it the most though: joking with you is something that brings him great joy! I am not sure if that's good that I love it so much, but seeing as how I grew up in a home that practiced sarcasm like it was a spiritual gift, it's hard for me not to love it when you and your Dad do a little verbal sparring. (By the way, you are totally worth a frappucino today!)

4) I love the intensity with which you pursue the things you love. One of the things you love best right now is playing piano. I always know when you are trying to avoid doing other chores when you close yourself into the piano room to play!!! I love how it relaxes you to make music. It's funny how cold your hands get when you play. You practice piano like nobody's business, and you are learning to express yourself wonderfully on the keys. You really are a piano teacher's dream and I can't wait to see where you go with this.

3) You care a lot about doing well and pleasing others. Of course, this is a double-edged sword, but I think you are developing a good balance, and learning to make the most of your God-given desire to think of other's first. You have taken your Bible study very seriously this past year, you often put me to shame. But I love it that you are making this faith your own and you work hard to make I Peter 4:10 a verse that you live by: Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

2) I love your laugh and I love it that you laugh easily. It's impossible not to smile when you are laughing. It's another way that you make people around you feel good. It's no wonder everyone you meet wants to be your friend.

1) I love it that you are comfortable being yourself. Whether you are talking to a grown-up, or a six year old - you are just having a good time being you! This feeling may come and go in the next few years, but I hope that you always feel confident knowing that being you is a fantastic thing. Auntie Loni would probably like me to remind you of her favourite verse, and one that I see you have added to your growing list of "post-it notes" on the desktop here: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful I know full well. Psalm 139:14

Did I finish ten things already? I feel like I am just getting started! I am looking forward to these next years. Watching you transition from a young girl to a young woman is going to be an amazing adventure. The best years are coming Babe - and that's saying something, the first twelve have been pretty fantastic!

Love, Mom

Not About Father's Day

2011-06-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was Father's Day.

And, for the first time that I can remember, I did everything that Josh wanted exactly to a "T".

What did I do that was so purportedly wonderful?

1999

Absolutely and totally nothing. Not a card, not a meal, not a bunch of hand prints on paper from the kids - NUH-THEENG. This is what he asks for every year - on his birthday, on Father's Day, on any day when you might think that a girl like me, would bust out all the party supplies and "do it right", cause if there's one thing I want to get right, it's making people feel celebrated.

2001
(I can't see a difference, can you see a difference?)

But what he wants, is nothing. So this year, I put my game face on and did just that. We went to church, where there was no Father's Day themed message, we went my parents place for lunch, his parents place for dinner - I cooked so little it might as well have been Mother's Day! But aside from paper ties, made with love in Sunday School from the preschoolers in his life, there was nary a whiff of sentiment or celebration for Josh.

2003

And since Josh doesn't read this blog, and it's a week past Father's Day, I'm still going with the theory that I have done exactly what he wanted...right?

2006

It figures that he would be the antithesis to my insatiable appetite for being celebrated, and celebrating others. It might even be why we work so well. But I digress.

2008

Josh is a great Dad. He loves his kids and he loves me. He is always pushing himself to become more and do better. I admire that about him. I hope he knows what a good job he is doing...cause it's not like I gave him a card that says "good job, Dad!" But I think he knows deep down that I didn't do it, because I care so much. :)

2011

Josh and I make a great team. And like any good team we are more than the sum of our parts: we more than double our value when we face life, especially raising kids, together. We make a lot of mistakes as parents, but I think when we are "Team Loewen" we do a lot of things right.

A Crazy Bunch!

Josh, I'm so glad I married you, and that we have had five wonderful kids together! Having kids has made things a lot crazier - but there is no one else I'd rather go crazy with than you!

Lucky Me :)

So let's pretend this post didn't happen, cause it's almost like a really really long card, but you're my favourite, I just couldn't hold it in!

Check it out!

2011-06-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

I have to admit to being more excited than I probably should be today. I was asked a while back to write a guest blog piece for Family Matters, and it's out for all to see today.

I don't think I've made it a big secret that Tim Kimmel is, without a doubt, my favourite author when it comes to parenting and family advice. If you've forgotten, you can check out my singing the praises of some of his books and the Family Flag Page here. So when Karis, Creative Director at FM, asked me to write a guest blog post, I may or may not have made a puddle on the floor in my excitement. TMI? That's not a first either.

Here is a snippet from my maiden blog:

As kids, we all thought our mom was the best, and our dad was the greatest. It wasn’t until I was married with kids of my own that I realized how much my perception of my dad had to do with work my Mom was doing behind the scenes to, as Dad puts it, “make him look better than he should.”

I also learned after being married for 15 years and counting, that these good things don’t just happen by accident.

Here are a few practices, some big and some small, that I saw my Mom do. They helped make Dad a father worthy of celebration. Her attitude and choices made a difference. Because of how she chose to set my Dad up for success, time and time again, we grew to love and appreciate the best in my Dad.

Picture Perfect

2011-06-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

I have to admit it - we are the family that is always asking if someone else would please take pictures of our kids at the recital, Christmas production, birthday party - you name it, because we have once again forgotten our camera.

Lucky for me, my sister is a photographer.

I am trying to do better - really I am. But part of my doing better involves asking Kyla to take pictures for me on a more regular basis. This is my shameless plug for her business - Pinball Photography. She does great work. Call before midnight today, and get a free set of Jin-su knives! Ok, maybe not. But you won't regret the memories.

Last week it was time to do an updated photo shoot of the kiddos. I hate how fast they grow up, and yet I love who they are becoming. Rumor has it, they can't "become" without growing. Dang.

The pictures are beautiful. They capture so much of the good and the goofy of our kids.

Thankfully what they don't capture is me, being more frustrated than I should at the goofy faces when I want lovely smiles, the squirmy seats, when I want them to be still. Thankfully, these pictures don't come with the 'hissing mother sound effects" file attached. I really need to work on letting my kids be kids, and not going over-the-top with my reactions to their childishness when a simple calm reminder would go so much further.

But that day is behind me. I haven't let the guilt beat me up. Much. I have apologized for once again, being Attila the Mom. God is working on me, showing where I still need to grow a lot more in grace. But the good part is - seeing these pictures reminds me why it is so important to keep the main things, the main things, and not worry so much about having children that don't act like adults all the time.

These kids are worth pursuing grace for.

Man, are they ever.

I love you all to the moon and back.

Thanks again Kyla for loving your way-too-intense sister, her goofy kids, and for being a part of showing me what grace is all about. I promise to relax more next time.